Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke says that Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho and the Hanford Reach National Monument in Washington are no longer under review for possible modification of their protected status.
The monuments were placed under review by President Donald Trump’s April executive order.
Zinke says Thursday’s announcement comes after public comments and conversations with stakeholders. The monuments were among 27 covered by President Donald Trump’s April executive order calling for a review of monuments created since 1996. Zinke says the announcement that no changes will be made to the two monuments came after public comments and conversations with stakeholders. Zinke says Craters of the Moon is a living timeline of the region’s geologic history, and that sportsmen and women from all over the country go to Hanford Reach for fishing and bird hunting.
Craters of the Moon covers 54,000 acres north of Burley in eastern Idaho. There have been calls recently to turn the monument into Idaho’s first national park.
The Hanford Reach, located north of Richland, was designated by President Bill Clinton in 2000. It covers 195,000 acres and much of the land was once a security zone around the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.
Critics of the Trump review worried it could lead to reducing the size of national monuments or completely removing protections from some. (AP)
