Four sites in Arizona are among 27 across the country identified for review by the Interior Department for possible changes to their protections.
Most of the national monuments in are in Western states and have protections created over two decades by presidential administrations.
President Trump ordered the review of the monuments last month, calling the protection efforts “a massive federal land grab” by previous administrations, according to news articles.
Trump questioned whether the law was followed and if there was appropriate input from state officials and the public.
The Arizona monuments under review, all created by President Bill Clinton, are the Grand Canyon-Parashant, 1 million acres in northwest Arizona; the Ironwood Forest, 128,917 acres northwest of Tucson; the Sonoran Desert, 486,149 acres southwest of Phoenix; and the Vermilion Cliffs, 279,568 acres north of the Grand Canyon.
The executive order directs Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke to review all presidential designations or expansions under the Antiquities Act of 1906 that were made since Jan. 1, 1996. The reviews would be of designations that cover more than 100,000 acres.
Comments by the public may be submitted online after May 12 at http://www.regulations.gov by entering “DOI-2017-0002” in the search bar and clicking search, according to a news release. The public can also comment by mail to Monument Review, MS-1530, U.S. Department of the Interior, 1849 C Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20240.
Interior Department officials are expected to publish a notice shortly in the Federal Register officially opening the public comment period. Written comments must be submitted within 60 days of that date.
