Interior Department won't change Arizona monument designation

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said Friday he is not recommending changes to Arizona’s Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument, the fifth site Zinke has removed from an ongoing review of national monuments for possible elimination or reduction. The million-acre site overseen by the Interior Department was designated as a monument in 2000. The designation protects it from energy development and other activities. The Arizona reserve, located west of the Grand Canyon, has some of the most pristine geological formations in North America, Zinke said. The formations “show the scientific history of our Earth while containing thousands of years of human relics and fossils,” he said...more