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U.S. President creates Chimney Rock National Monument
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September 23, 2012
Original URL: http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/U.S._President_creates_Chimney_Rock_National_Monument



Friday saw U.S. President Barack Obama issue a proclamation making the
south-western Colorado site of Chimney Rock a national monument.  This
the third national monument Obama has created, {without an Act of
Congress, using authority granted to the President under the 1906
Antiquities Act.

As the newest of country's 103 national monuments, Chimney Rock consists
of the 4,726-acre (19 km<sup>2</sup>) Chimney Rock Archaeological Area
of San Juan National Forest in Archuleta County, Colorado. It will
continue being managed by the United States Forest Service. In  Friday's
proclamation, Obama said the site "incorporates spiritual, historical,
and scientific resources of great value and significance".

U.S. Representative Scott Tipton introduced House Bill 2611 last year,
attempting to designate the area a national monument; his bill passed in
the House of Representatives, but stalled over election-year politics in
the Senate.  Fiscal conservatives in the Senate blocked the measure,
fearing it could increase administrative costs. Supporters insist any
additional costs would be negligible. The President's action has met
with bipartisan support from within the swing state of Colorado;
although national Republican leaders have criticised presidential use of
the 1906 act, citing concerns that where mineral, or fossil fuel,
resources may be present such action "locks them up".

== Sources == 

* http://www.fs.fed.us/news/2012/releases/09/2012chimneyrock.pdf
* http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_21600840/obama-declares-chimney-rock-national-monument
* http://www.pagosadailypost.com/news/21542/Chimney_Rock..._It%27s_Official,_Part_Two/



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