Arizona is one signature away from its fourth national park. The Senate passed a bill by unanimous consent Wednesday to redesignate Chiricahua National Monument as a national park and sent it to President Trump’s desk.
The bill was sponsored by U.S. Representative Juan Ciscomani and U.S. Senators Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego. It leaves the monument’s roughly 12,000-acre boundaries as they are, and it requires consultation with Tribes and continued access for traditional Tribal uses.
Local officials hope the new name will bring more tourists to a site that had just over 70,000 visitors last year. Bill Wade, executive director of the Association of National Park Rangers, said Chiricahua is “certainly worthy of national park status,” but added, “Like a lot of other areas, it is most likely understaffed.”
Some of Chiricahua’s basic needs are already on hold. A new interactive map from the Center for Western Priorities shows 1,492 Park Service projects that Interior department officials classified as “low priority.” Three of them are at Chiricahua: emergency mold abatement in occupied staff housing, replacing electrical systems in historic buildings, and security upgrades. Top-priority work was fast-tracked instead, including a $16 million effort to paint the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool blue.
“These are the everyday projects that keep parks open and running: roof repairs, replacing outdated computers, even buying toilet paper and garbage bags. None of that is low priority. It’s the basic work of national parks,” said Lilly Bock-Brownstein of the Center for Western Priorities.
MLB drops proposal to host baseball game at Grand Teton National Park
Major League Baseball has dropped its proposal to host a game in Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park. Last weekend, the Washington Post reported that a National Park Service official scouted possible sites. Local leaders then sent letters to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred expressing “strong opposition.” In a Thursday letter, Manfred wrote that “it has become clear the local community does not want us to continue evaluating Grand Teton National Park as a potential site.”
Quick hits
Interior is paying $3.4M to repair the national mall’s turf
DC judge permanently dismisses case charging ex-Olympian with vandalizing Reflecting Pool
The Trump admin cut funding to a conservation nonprofit. The group has no idea why
South Korea contests U.S. claims of new $50 billion pipeline in Alaska
MLB drops proposal to host a baseball game at Grand Teton National Park
Associated Press | Washington Post | Jackson Hole News & Guide |
Conservation groups sue to halt expansion of Hermosa mine onto public lands in Arizona
Chiricahua National Park Act headed to President Trump may create Arizona’s fourth national park
Arizona’s Family | Arizona Daily Star | 13 News | KGUN | KVOA
4 more endangered California condors take flight near the Grand Canyon
Quote of the day
It’s very bewildering to see these cuts at a time when public interest and love for public lands is at an all-time high.”
—Peter Woodruff, executive director of the Great Basin Institute, SFGATE
Picture This
While Katmai had its Fat Bear Week, here at Devils Tower we are entering our Fat Prairie Dog Week. In preparation for winter prairie dogs will also fatten up. The fatter the prairie dog the better chance it has of surviving the winter. While the prairie dogs in the park don’t hibernate, food can be scarce in the winter, so they need to pack on the pounds. Below is the fattest prairie dog we have ever seen at Devils Tower National Monument. What has been your best sighting of a plump animal? NPS/Brian C. #DevilsTower#FindYourPark
(Featured image: Chiricahua National Monument, Arizona. Photo by Ken Lund, Flickr)