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Zinke Recommends No Changes to Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument

NPS

U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has recommended that no changes be made to Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument. It comes as the agency reviews more than two dozen monuments throughout the country. KNAU’s Ryan Heinsius reports.

Zinke says Grand Canyon-Parashant has some of the most pristine geological formations in North America. He also says it shows the earth’s natural history and contains archaeological relics and fossils.

The million-acre monument was designated in 2000 by President Bill Clinton, and is co-managed by the Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service.

President Trump ordered the Interior Department review earlier this year, and according to Zinke, Grand Canyon-Parashant will now be taken off the list. Three other Arizona national monuments including Vermillion Cliffs, however, could still be reassessed, along with Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalate in southern Utah.

Ryan Heinsius joined KNAU's newsroom as an executive producer in 2013 and became news director and managing editor in 2024. As a reporter, he has covered a broad range of stories from local, state and tribal politics to education, economy, energy and public lands issues, and frequently interviews internationally known and regional musicians. Ryan is an Edward R. Murrow Award winner and a Public Media Journalists Association Award winner, and a frequent contributor to NPR's Morning Edition, All Things Considered and national newscast.
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