Here's every piece of land Obama has put under protection during his presidency
On December 28, President Obama created two new national monuments in Utah and Nevada, furthering the administration's environmental legacy before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
The new monuments, Bears Ears and Gold Butte, cover over 1.5 million acres of land, which brings the total land Obama has protected during his presidency to more than 550 million acres — more than double the amount that Theodore Roosevelt did.
Throughout his time in office, Obama has used the Antiquities Act, which Roosevelt signed into law in 1906, to set aside public land for conservation. His efforts have been largely applauded by environmentalists but criticized by some conservatives for placing too much land under federal control.
The vast majority of Obama's addition to the nation's protected acreage, however, is water — the President created and expanded several massive marine national monuments in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans (not to mention his recent ban on Arctic drilling).
In all, this week's two new monuments bring Obama's total to 29. Some include sites of significance to Native Americans (like Chimney Rock in Colorado and Bears Ears in Utah), some have historic importance to oppressed groups (like the Stonewall Inn in New York and the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Monument in Maryland), and others are simply beautiful pieces of American land.
Here's the full list, in reverse chronological order.
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