Interfaith Call to Action: Protect the Sacred Lands of Arizona
As people of faith, we stand together in urging our leaders to protect sacred lands and cultural monuments in Arizona that hold profound spiritual, historical, and ecological significance. Right now, Baaj Nwaavjo I tah Kukveni Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument and Ironwood Forest National Monument face threats of reduced protection.
We invite faith leaders and communities across traditions to join us in calling on our Arizona congressional delegation to safeguard these sacred places and honor the leadership of Indigenous communities who have stewarded them for generations. Read the letter below and sign on using the link at the end.
Protect the Sacred Lands of Arizona
As people of faith, we are united in our deep commitment to protecting and preserving sacred lands and cultural monuments that hold profound spiritual, historical, and ecological significance.
We call on all elected leaders, but especially our Arizona congressional delegation, to take bold and immediate action to safeguard two such sacred places: Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument and Ironwood Forest National Monument.
These lands are more than natural wonders they are living testaments to the deep heritage, resilience, and spiritual traditions of Indigenous Peoples who have called them home for millennia. Their cultural, ecological, and ceremonial value cannot be overstated. Yet today, these public lands are under threat. The current federal Administration is considering reducing the size or weakening protections for multiple national monuments, including Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni and Ironwood Forest, to facilitate energy and mineral extraction.
As people of faith, we are called to be stewards of creation, to protect and care for the earth and its sacred places. The Hebrew Scriptures remind us, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it” (Psalm 24:1). In the Abrahamic traditions, we are instructed to “act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God” (Micah 6:8), which includes tending to creation with care and justice. Likewise, the Qur’an teaches, “It is He who has made you successors upon the earth” (Qur’an 35:39), entrusting us with its protection. The Hindu Rig Veda declares, “The earth is our mother and we are her children” (Atharva Veda 12.1.12), calling for reverence and care for the natural world. Buddhist Samyutta Nikaya, the Buddha teaches, “Because the world is supported by the interdependent arising of all things, one should care for the world as one cares for oneself,” reminding us that our well-being is bound to the well-being of the earth. Many Indigenous traditions affirm, as expressed in the Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address, that we have a sacred responsibility to give thanks and care for the waters, the plants, the animals, and all living things, recognizing the earth as a living relative.
As our sacred texts command, it is our duty to stand in solidarity with the Indigenous communities and Tribal Nations who have long led the effort to honor and protect these landscapes. Their leadership and wisdom must guide any future stewardship.
Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni, newly designated in 2023 to protect nearly one million acres surrounding the Grand Canyon and safeguard sacred sites while prohibiting new uranium mining, now faces possible boundary reductions under current review.
Ironwood Forest National Monument, a biologically and culturally vital Sonoran Desert landscape, is under similar threat from proposed resizing to open it to industrial activity.
These sacred places are not only part of our nation’s heritage, but they are also critical to its future. In protecting them, we uphold values of justice, responsibility, and reverence. We urge you, especially our Arizona representatives, to act now to protect what is sacred. Let us ensure these lands are preserved for future generations, not just as monuments of the past, but as living sites of spiritual and cultural vitality today.
Signers as of September 15th, 2025
Bhikkhu Vasu Bandhu, Gilbert
Dr. Mary Dawes, Tucson, Unitarian Universalism
Dr. Thomas Martinez, Tempe, United Church of Christ
Fr. Vladimir Lavenko, Tucson, Saint Basil of the Desert Eastern Orthodox
Rev. Ailsa Guardiola Gonzalez, Tucson, First Christian Church Tucson
Rev. Amy Barron-Gafford, Tucson, United Methodist Church
Rev. Bart Smith, Tucson, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Rev. Beth Rambikur, United Methodist Church
Rev. Bethany Russell-Lowe, Unitarian Universalism
Rev. Doug Bland, Tempe, AZ Interfaith Power and Light, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Rev. Dr. Eric Ledermann, Chandler, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Rev. Jamil Omar, Tucson, Unitarian Universalism
Rev. Jeannie Soverns, Religious Science
Rev. Kate Lehman, Glendale, Ecumenical Catholic Communion
Rev. Katie Louise Sexton, Glendale
Rev. Monica Whitaker, Episcopal Church
Rev. Patricia Thompson, Surprise, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Rev. Stephanie Soon, Surprise, United Methodist Church
Rev. Susan Valiquette, Phoenix, United Church of Christ
Rev. Towanda NT Connelly, Phoenix, United Methodist Church
Rev. Christine Dance, Paradise Valley, Unitarian Universalism
Rev. Ferzin Irani, Phoenix, Sufism
Sister Lydia Armenta, Phoenix, Catholic - Independent
Alan and Joan Brundage, United Church of Christ
Alicia Kenney, Tempe
Alice Stambaugh, Scottsdale, Scottsdale Congregational United Church of Christ
Amee Beck, Mesa, Unity
Amy Donohue, Phoenix, Agnosticism
Ann Connolly, Tempe, Catholic - Independent
Anne Yarwood, Barrington
Beth Lederman
Betsy Tait, Christian
Betsy Tatlock, Cave Creek
Bill Ford, Buckeye, Roman Catholic Church
Brian Flatgard, Lutheran
Canon Lisa Derrick, Phoenix, Episcopal Church
Carol Engle, United Church of Christ
Carolyn Quinn, Phoenix, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Char Hoffman, Prescott, Catholic - Independent
Cindy Guenthner, Glendale
Connie Youmans, Phoenix
David Bales
David Topping, Tempe, United Methodist Church
Debbie Pallack, Yuma, United Methodist Church
Deborah Bare, Peace Lutheran Church, Peoria
Deborah Livingston, Tucson, Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)
Denise Jurgens, United Church of Christ
Dick & Karen Nye, Maricopa, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Doralee Ewing, Tempe, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Dorothy Wellington, Phoenix
Dot Himes, Cortez, Roman Catholic Church
Emily Saeteurn, Peoria
Gail Bird, Mesa, United Church of Christ
Giulio Grecchi
Grace Marks
Greg Olszta, San Tan Valley
Holly Nipperus, Phoenix
Hon. Halsy Taylor, Tucson, Other
J. Vasquez, Phoenix
Janet Printz, Tucson, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Jana Sundin, Phoenix, Episcopal Church
Jason Vail Cruz, Islam, Phoenix
Jens Larson, Phoenix, Baha'i
Jo Ann Vredenburg, Mesa, Progressive Christian
Joan Fenton, Phoenix
John Lewis, Scottsdale, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Jovita Fine, Sacred Heart Church, Prescott, AZ
Joyce Suggs, Phoenix, United Church of Christ
Julie Boston, Mesa, Christian
Julie Johnson, Pima County Interfaith, Episcopal, Tucson
Kate Kosse, Marana, United Methodist Church
Kay Klinkenborg, Sun City, United Church of Christ
Keith Seaman, Casa Grande, Presbyterian
Kimberly Redhage, Scottsdale
Laurel Hardin, Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Phoenix, Paradise Valley
Lesley Glueck Johnston, Scottsdale, Christian - Non-denominational
Linda S Sexton, Glendale, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Margaret Lauder, Phoenix, Roman Catholic Church
Margaret McChesney, Phoenix, Catholic - Independent
Mary Crawford, Mesa, Roman Catholic Church
Mason Marks, Phoenix, Judaism (Reform)
Melanie Hobden, Phoenix, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Michael Powell, Sun City
Michael Tarek, Phoenix
Michele Phillips, Carefree, Episcopal Church
Ms. Gretchen Reinhardt, Tempe, Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)
Ms. Linda Stenholm, Tempe, Unitarian Universalism
Nanalee Raphael, Episcopal Church
Nancy Hoober, Tempe
Nancy Meister, Yuma
Nanalee Raphael, St. Andrew's Church, Tucson
Philip Shea, Phoenix, Lutheran
Polly Mitchell-Guthrie, Episcopal Church
Rebecca Dickinson
Ruth Wootten, Tempe, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Sally Rings, Phoenix, Unitarian Universalism
Samantha Torre, Scottsdale
Sandra Schable, Benson, United Methodist Church
Sandra Tarpinian
Sarah M Wolfe, Scottsdale, Roman Catholic Church
Seth Dyson, Surprise, Roman Catholic Church
Sharon Konen, Sun City West
Sarah King, United Methodist, Flagstaff
Shirin McArthur, Marana, Episcopal Church
Shirley Lowman, Phoenix, Roman Catholic Church
Solveig Muus, Phoenix, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Suzanne Boisclair, Sun City
Suzanne Hesh, Tucson