Obama Designates 3 New National Monuments
President Obama established three new national monuments Friday the Berryessa Snow Mountain in California, the Basin and Range area of southeastern Nevada, and the Waco Mammoth excavation area in Texas. "I am especially pleased to be able to announce three new designations that are going to be taking place in varied landscapes, but all of them speak to some incredible history," Obama said as he signed the proclamations in the Oval Office. The President established the three sites as monuments using the Antiquities Act of 1906, according to the proclamations. Obama has designated or expanded 19 national monuments covering 260 million acres, an amount more than the total protected by any other president.