September 17, 2024
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Zuni Tribe Endorses America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act – 9.17.2024
Contacts:
Scott Groene, Executive Director, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA); (201) 712-5034; scott@suwa.org
Grant Stevens, Communications Director, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA); (319) 427-0260; grant@suwa.org
Salt Lake City, UT – The Zuni Council, consisting of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and six council members, voted unanimously on July 10, 2024, to support America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act (ARRWA). The resolution endorses Congressional wilderness designation for lands within the Act, which would protect more than 8.4 million acres of federal public lands in Utah.
Zuni Tribal Governor Arden Kucate said “We recognize that the lands in America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act are aboriginal lands, and contain the testimony of our ancestor’s space and time since time immemorial, and are traditionally significant to Zuni heritage.”
“These lands include the prehistoric habitation sites, petroglyphs, pictographs, artifacts and human remains of our Thlewekwe ancestors,” stated Councilman Edward Wemytewa. “These lands are of cultural importance to many people, including the Zuni Tribe and other Pueblo Tribes.”
Governor Kucate added, “The animals and plants found there, along with the cultural and historic record of the legacy of the Zuni peoples, could be harmed. Our approach to life is an all-encompassing effort to protect the environment for the benefit of all mankind. We find that America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act is an important part of that effort.”
“We greatly appreciate the Zuni Tribe’s endorsement of the Red Rock bill,” said SUWA Executive Director Scott Groene. “With other tribes, the Zuni Tribe is leading in protecting lands in southern Utah, including their work for the establishment of the Bears Ears National Monument.”
Representative Melanie Stansbury (D-NM-01) leads the legislative effort for ARRWA in the US House of Representatives. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois introduced the Act into the Senate and Senators Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM) are co-sponsors of the legislation in the US Senate. “Defending America’s Wilderness is crucial to ensuring the vital ecosystems and sacred lands across the Southwest and the country remain stable and protected, in collaboration with Tribes,” said Representative Melanie Stansbury. “I am proud to sponsor America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act in the U.S. House and to have the endorsement of Zuni Pueblo. We must continue to work together to ensure these special places are permanently protected.”
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The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) is a nonprofit organization with members and supporters from around the country dedicated to protecting America’s redrock wilderness. From offices in Moab, Salt Lake City, and Washington, DC, our team of professionals defends the redrock, organizes support for America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, and stewards this world-renowned landscape. Learn more at www.suwa.org.
