By Alex Devoid | The Republic
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke faces today’s deadline to recommend shrinking, eliminating or leaving in place 21 national monuments, including three in Arizona.
His decisions could lead to legal challenges that would test the authority of U.S. presidents and will likely deepen debate over the use or preservation of public lands across the West.
Related: Small mining company seeks to kill Ironwood Monument designation
President Donald Trump ordered the review of 27 national monuments in April, all of them established by previous presidents. The review affected monuments of more than 100,000 acres established after Jan. 1, 1996, or individual monuments that Zinke determined were designated without enough public input.
The order gave Zinke 120 days to conduct the review.
