- The Washington Times - Wednesday, August 2, 2017

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke on Wednesday spared another historic site, announcing that he will not recommend any changes to the the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument.

In a statement, the secretary said the 378,000-acre monument is no longer a part of his comprehensive review of more than two dozen monuments across the country.

“​Today I’m announcing the review of the​ Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument has concluded and I am recommending to the president that no changes be made to the monument​,” ​​he said. “​​The monument is one of the only free-flowing areas of the Missouri that remains as Lewis and Clark saw it more than 200 years ago.”

Upper Missouri River Breaks is the fourth monument to be spared by Mr. Zinke’s review, which was ordered by President Trump in late April. The secretary also has spared Colorado’s Canyons of the Ancients, Idaho’s Craters of the Moon, and Washington’s Hanford Reach.

But Mr. Zinke did recommend major changes to the sprawling Bears Ears National Monument in Utah, suggesting that the 1.35 million-acre site be chopped up.

Interior has defended its process, saying its exercising unprecedented transparency in announcing individual decisions as soon as they’re made.

• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.

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