U.S. Senate passes bill to make Chiricahua National Monument a national park
Chiricahua National Monument in southern Arizona is on its way to become a national park.
The U.S. Senate unanimously approved a measure that would designate the area as Chiricahua National Park.
The measure was introduced by Sen. Mark Kelly and co-sponsored by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, both from Arizona.
The difference between the two designations is that a national park is the area that has outstanding natural phenomena or scenic features. They also have to be sufficiently large and set aside by Congress.
National monuments are reserved due to containing objects of historic or scientific interest and are usually established by the president. Size is not important in the designation.
Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick introduced similar legislation to the U.S. House.
