Add two more national monuments to President Barack Obama's conservation legacy.
On Tuesday afternoon Obama announced the designation of the Bears Ears and Gold Butte national monuments in Utah and Nevada. Just last week he announced a ban on Arctic gas and oil drilling, only a month before pro-drilling Donald Trump takes office.
SEE ALSO:Obama trumps Trump and permanently bans Arctic drilling ahead of inaugurationThe newest protected areas include sacred sites important to Native American tribes who have fought for the land, water and wildlife there for generations. Bears Ears, named for geological formations in southeastern Utah, is 1.35 million acres of federal land, which includes ancestral grounds, according to the White House.
The other monument, Gold Butte, is just outside Las Vegas and is smaller at 300,000 acres. The White House noted rock art, archeological artifacts and even recently discovered dinosaur tracks from hundreds of millions of years ago as important resources to preserve.
Tweet may have been deleted
In a statement, the president said, "These monuments will protect places that a wide range of stakeholders all agree are worthy of protection. We also have worked to ensure that tribes and local communities can continue to access and benefit from these lands for generations to come."
Protecting these lands has been part of political discussions for years and hasn't come easily.
Rock formations in Gold Butte, located about 90 miles northeast of Las Vegas.Credit: Jeff Scheid /Las Vegas Review-Journal via APThe White House said legislation to designate these areas as protected land was first introduced in 2008. The Bears Ears plans have been in discussion since way back in 1936. In more recent years, the Hopi Nation, Navajo Nation, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah Ouray, and Zuni Tribe created a proposal for the area, which was incorporated in Obama's designation.
As his term ends, there's been a sense of urgency to preserve wilderness areas, natural resources and sacred spaces
For those keeping track, these two monuments can be added to the list of about 25 federally protected regions added during Obama's eight years in office under the Antiquities Act. As his term ends, there's been a sense of urgency to preserve wilderness areas, natural resources and sacred spaces. It's uncertain how the Trump administration will protect the environment, considering he's been tapping many climate deniers to powerful positions and criticized Obama for establishing a national monument in Maine back in October.
Trump's pick for secretary of the Department of the Interior, which oversees the National Park Service, is Republican Rep. Ryan Zinke -- an avid hunter who has been criticized by several environmentalist groups.
Of course, the conservation announcement didn't come without detractors. Sen. Orrin Hatch from Utah released a statement on Twitter calling the Utah designation an "egregious abuse of executive power" that didn't involve people who actually live and manage the land. Hatch vowed under Trump to "do everything in my power to reverse this travesty."
Tweet may have been deleted
Another Utah senator voiced his disapproval of the designation.
Tweet may have been deleted
Meanwhile U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell praised the new protections.
Tweet may have been deleted
Conservation groups also joined in on the praise. Nevada Conservation League's executive director Andy Maggi said in a statement about the Gold Butte National Monument, "This national monument will not only ensure that our history, landscapes and wildlife are conserved for generations to come, but will also boost our outdoor recreation economy."
TopicsNature
(责任编辑：熱點)
New Zealand designer's photo series celebrates the elegance of aging
Robots taking our jobs? Tax them, says Bill GatesHow modern witches are gathering online to stop TrumpOnce again, Trump makes one of his old tweets 'fake news'Singapore gets world's first driverless taxisResearchers create temporary tattoos you can use to control your devices
In the future, your tattoos could be much more than just ink designs.
。Scientists have created a new
...[详细]Rupert Grint transforms into a hustler for Crackle's 'Snatch'
"Gangster" and "Hustler" aren't usually labels that one would place on Rupert Grint. 。 But that's kin
...[详细]For Twitter's 11th birthday, they just gifted the world with Periscope Producer API
Live video on Twitter's about to get a bit more professional. On the occasion of its 11th birthday,
...[详细]Bold kid crashes local weather report, forecasting 'farts and toots'
Patrick Ellis, meteorologist for Jackson, Mississippi, was just trying to get through the evening ne
...[详细]Samsung Galaxy Note7 teardown reveals the magic behind the phone's iris scanner
Samsung's Galaxy Note7 is touted by many reviewers as one of the best, if not the best, smartphones
...[详细]NASA just found a long-lost spacecraft orbiting the moon. 。 The Indian Space Research Organization's
...[详细]Mermaid toast is very pretty to look at, but it's no fad... yet
Toast isn't something that inspires much excitement, but adding colour seems like a sure way to make
...[详细]New version of Chrome is much easier on your laptop's battery
If there's one complaint about Chrome that keeps popping up lately, it's that Google's web browser -
...[详细]Nate Parker is finally thinking about the woman who accused him of rape
Nate Parker is getting a crash course in male privilege after, in his own words, not thinking about
...[详细]This treaty has a massive, $19 trillion upside, but Trump may walk away anyway
The United States could soon walk away from a trillion-dollar opportunity if some influential player
...[详细]You will love/hate Cards Against Humanity's new fortune cookies
LG G6 will launch on April 7 on all four major U.S. carriers