Chiricahua Monument in Arizona Becomes 64th US National Park
A stretch of towering rock spires in south-eastern Arizona, long known among Native Americans as the Land of Standing-Up Rocks, has been designated the country's newest national park.
Donald Trump signed the legislation creating Chiricahua national park on Tuesday after it passed Congress with bipartisan support, making it the 64th US national park. The 19-sq-mile site sits within the historical territory of the Chiricahua Apache tribes and was first protected as a national monument in the 1920s to preserve hundreds of pinnacle-shaped rocks left by an ancient volcanic eruption.
For centuries the area was home to the Apache, nomadic tribes who often resisted European newcomers and clashed with settlers until surrendering to US troops in 1886 and being forcibly removed to the San Carlos Apache reservation.
Interior secretary Doug Burgum said the site's rock spires, Apache heritage and biodiversity make it one of America's most extraordinary landscapes, and that the designation would draw national attention to one of Arizona's hidden gems, welcome more visitors and strengthen local economies.
The bill preserves tribal access for traditional ceremonies and allows temporary public closures to protect those cultural uses, though Arizona US representative Juan Ciscomani said the specifics have not been decided. Early settlers called the site Wonderland of Rocks; the name Chiricahua comes from the surrounding mountains.
Senator Mark Kelly called it a win for communities in southeastern Arizona and for everyone who worked to protect the place for future generations. According to the park service, the area shows evidence of thousands of years of human use, from prehistoric people to Buffalo soldiers stationed there after the civil war during a government campaign against Apache leaders Geronimo and Cochise.
Calvin Coolidge named the site a national monument in 1924 under the federal Antiquities Act, and Franklin D Roosevelt expanded it in 1938. It receives roughly 60,000 visitors annually. Jessica Bowron, comptroller and acting director of the National Park Service, said that while the name is changing, the commitment to protecting the landscape and its cultural heritage remains the same.
The park service has seen deep workforce cuts under Trump, and maintenance projects at many sites, including Chiricahua, were ranked low priority by officials who instead focused on projects wanted by the White House, including repairs to the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool.