Basin & Range, NV (photo credit: J Brew)
From The Washington Post:
In a massive expansion of his lands legacy, Obama created three new national monuments Friday in Nevada, California and Texas.
Using his authority under the Antiquities Act, the president created a protected area spanning roughly 704,000 acres in central Nevada’s Basin and Range, as well as smaller ones in California’s Berryessa Snow Mountain and Texas’ Waco Mammoth.
With the new designations, Obama has established or expanded 19 national monuments for a total of more than 260 million acres of public lands and waters, more than any previous president. The Basin and Range monument alone, at more than 1,000 square miles, is nearly the size of Rhode Island.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
The Nevada site is a big win for Sen. Harry Reid, who personally lobbied President Obama for the designation. The California Monument protects more than 300,000 acres of Northern California's Inner Coast Range. And Texas' Waco Mammoth is a major paleontological site, home to two dozen well-preserved Mammoth skeletons, including an extremely rare nursery herd.
This is not only a great victory for the environment but will also likely cause widespread Goposaur head explosions.
The Nevada Basin & Range Monument will protect vital sage grouse habitat
(photo credit: Tatiana Gettelman)
Cross-posted at Byline.com