Interior secretary removes Southern California national monument from review

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke will not recommend that any changes to a monument east of Los Angeles.|
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BY ASSOCIATED PRESS

LOS ANGELES - U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke will not recommend that any changes be made to the Sand to Snow National Monument in Southern California.

Zinke says in a statement Wednesday the monument is no longer under the Interior Department review ordered by President Donald Trump in April.

Zinke says the monument has some of the most diverse terrain in the West and is home to "incredible" geographic, biologic and archaeological history.

The monument in the inland region east of Los Angeles was created by President Barack Obama in February 2016.

It encompasses more than 240 square miles from the floor of the Sonoran Desert to mountains topping 10,000 feet in the San Gorgonio Wilderness of the San Bernardino National Forest.

It was among 27 national monuments Trump ordered to be reviewed.

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This story has been corrected to show the statement was issued Wednesday.

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