WILLCOX, Ariz. (KGUN) — A few miles outside the town of Willcox is the newest National Park in the United States of America. It is Chiricahua National Park.
What had been the Chiricahua National Monument is known for its ancient, fantastic rock formations. But on this day there was something brand new to see—the unveiling of the sign that shows its new title as a National Park.
Getting Chiricahua National Monument designated as a National Park took multiple tries over multiple years by the Southern Arizona community and by Congressman Juan Ciscomani. Now his bill making the change has passed the House, the Senate and gotten the President’s signature.
He says, “It took a lot of effort from local communities, the mayors here, park services, of course, making this monument amazing to have it become a park. Interior fully supporting this and having a real mission of protecting public lands for the country, so it checks all the boxes of cooperation.”
National Parks are the responsibility of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum. National Monuments are protected places under the Parks Department but he says when a monument becomes a National Park it becomes a flagship property the Park Service gives extra effort to attract visitors.
“When there's more visitation, then we have to do our job for the National Park Service flagship parks where we put more dollars in in terms of infrastructure, whether it's water systems, sewer, trail maintenance, the interpretation, visitor centers, all those budgets get bigger once you become a national park. Visitation increases. So for the nearby communities, entrance communities like Willcox, Arizona, I think what they're going to see is that 70,000
people visited the park in 2025. That number is going to go way up, and then we have to back that up with support staffing dollars for infrastructure and programming.”
The prospect of the new park attracting new waves of visitors can mean a new wave of money into the local economy and further build Cochise County’s reputation as a place to come appreciate the natural beauty of Southern Arizona.
The Interior Secretary declared Armand Santilli as the first visitor to Chiricahua as an official National Park.
He just happened to be visiting when he happened to walk right up to the ceremony.
He says , “There were a lot of folks with fancy hats on.
So I figured this must be official, this must be something important. So I figured I'd just start asking the first folks I saw in suits, what's going on? Who here is famous and basically the rest is history.”
The Interior Secretary gave him the first stickers that call Chiricahua a National Park instead of a monument. He is like a lot of outdoor lovers who try to see how many National Parks they can visit. Now this place is National Park number 64 and the 4th National Park for Arizona.
