"President Obama plans to bypass Congress and sign an executive order [Friday]designating the ancient Chimney Rock ruins in southwest Colorado as a new national monument, the administration announced late yesterday."

"Obama will designate the 4,700-acre Chimney Rock Archaeological Area as a national monument under the 1906 Antiquities Act, which allows the president to designate new national monuments without congressional approval. It will mark the third time Obama has used the act to designate a national monument. The president in November 2011 declared his first national monument at Fort Monroe in Virginia and his second monument designation in April at California's Fort Ord.

Chimney Rock, which is part of the San Juan National Forest, will remain under the control of the Forest Service and become the service's seventh national monument."

Scott Streater reports for Greenwire September 20, 2012. [2]