President Donald Trump signed legislation this week creating Chiricahua National Park, Arizona's fourth national park and the nation's newest, renewing questions about which site could be next in line for the designation.
Trump signed 10 bills into law on Tuesday, including the Chiricahua National Park Act, which changes Chiricahua’s official status from a national monument to a national park, making it the nation's 64th national park. The law redesignates Chiricahua National Monument in Arizona as Chiricahua National Park and comes as conservation advocates and lawmakers continue to push for greater protections for public lands, while several other nationally significant sites have emerged as potential candidates for future national park designation.
“Chiricahua’s towering rock spires, rich Apache heritage and remarkable biodiversity make it one of America’s most extraordinary landscapes,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a press release announcing the new park. “This new designation will shine a national spotlight on one of Arizona’s hidden gems, creating opportunities to welcome more visitors, strengthen local economies and share this incredible landscape with more Americans.”
Newsweek reached out to the National Park Service (NPS) by email for comment on Thursday.
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Where Is Chiricahua National Park?
Chiricahua National Park is in southeastern Arizona, 45 minutes south of Interstate 10 in Willcox. The NPS calls it a "hidden gem" on its website. The park is known for its impressive rock formations and mountain landscape rising between the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts.
Prior to obtaining national park status, Chiricahua was a national monument. The new law does not change the site's boundaries. Instead, the existing boundaries for the national monument are now considered national park boundaries.
Chiricahua National Park joins Arizona's three other national parks: Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest and Saguaro.
How Is a National Park Created?
The power to create a national park lies with Congress. In order for a park to be created, a bill must pass the House and Senate, then be signed into law by the president.
National monuments can also be created by presidential proclamation.
Possible Locations for America's Next National Park
The designation of a new national park has reignited conversations around where the next national park might emerge. Among these discussions are sites in Georgia, Pennsylvania/New Jersey and Idaho.
Georgia National Park Proposal Currently Before Congress
The strongest contender for the designation is Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park in Georgia. There is active legislation in Congress proposing to make the site into a national park. The Ocmulgee Mounds National Park Redesignation Act aims to do just that. Ocmulgee Mounds National Historic Park is in Macon, southeast of Atlanta. It is best known for its ancient Native American earthen mounds.
Citizens Campaign for New National Park in Pennsylvania, New Jersey
In the Northeast, there is an active citizen campaign to redesignate the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, which spans Pennsylvania and New Jersey, as a national park and preserve, though no legislation has been introduced in Congress.
Supporters argue that the roughly 70,000-acre landscape, which attracts about 4 million visitors annually and includes the free-flowing Delaware River, merits national park status. The recreation area traces its origins to the now-abandoned Tocks Island Dam project. The federal government acquired land for a planned reservoir, but the dam was never built, and Congress established the recreation area in 1965.
Idaho National Park Efforts
Advocates have proposed redesignating Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve in Idaho as a national park, though there is currently no legislation in Congress to make the change. The site is known for its vast volcanic landscape and what supporters describe as some of the country's most diverse fields of dormant lava flows.
Idaho lawmakers urged Congress in 2017 to consider redesignating Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve as a national park, but the effort has not led to active federal legislation.
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