On Friday, July 10, President Obama announced that he would set aside over 1 million acres for preservation in California, Texas, and Nevada to create three new national monuments. While signing the official designation, he referred to America’s national parks and monuments as one of the nation’s “great legacies,” noting that they not only preserve the country’s beauty but also represent its rich history.
The newest national monuments include Northern California’s Berryessa Snow Mountain, a 331,000-acre region comprising Native American cultural sites and numerous diverse ecosystems. In Texas, the Waco Mammoth National Monument boasts preserved remains of a variety of Pleistocene epoch animals, such as saber-toothed cats and giant tortoises. However, the aptly named region is best known for the fossils of 65,000-year-old Columbian mammoths. The third new preserved region, the Basin and Range National Monument, spans 704,000 acres in Nevada. In addition to containing prehistoric rock art and petroglyphs dating back 4,000 years, Basin and Range is the site of City, an abstract sculpture by Michael Heizer that serves as an impressive example of American land-art.
With these three additions, President Obama has established a total of 19 national monuments since taking office, highlighting the historical, cultural, and ecological significance of over 260 million acres of public land.
The newest national monuments include Northern California’s Berryessa Snow Mountain, a 331,000-acre region comprising Native American cultural sites and numerous diverse ecosystems. In Texas, the Waco Mammoth National Monument boasts preserved remains of a variety of Pleistocene epoch animals, such as saber-toothed cats and giant tortoises. However, the aptly named region is best known for the fossils of 65,000-year-old Columbian mammoths. The third new preserved region, the Basin and Range National Monument, spans 704,000 acres in Nevada. In addition to containing prehistoric rock art and petroglyphs dating back 4,000 years, Basin and Range is the site of City, an abstract sculpture by Michael Heizer that serves as an impressive example of American land-art.
With these three additions, President Obama has established a total of 19 national monuments since taking office, highlighting the historical, cultural, and ecological significance of over 260 million acres of public land.
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