President Barack Obama created two new national monuments on Wednesday, setting aside 1.65 million acres in southeastern Utah and southern Nevada, a move sure to anger Republicans who have sought to curb the power the outgoing president has wielded to protect record amounts of sensitive and historic lands and waters. The President created a 1.35 million acre Bears Ears National Monument in Utah, at the urging of five Native American tribes, as well as a 300,000 acre Gold Butte National Monument in Nevada not far from the ranch of anti-government warrior Cliven Bundy. In creating the Bear's Ears National Monument in Utah and Gold Butte National Monument in Nevada, Obama said in a statement he was protecting desert landscapes that contain "some of our country’s most important cultural treasures, including abundant rock art, archeological sites, and lands considered sacred by Native American tribes." Governor Brian Sandoval said he would have preferred a more collaborative approach that included opinions of those affected, but said he worked with federal officials “to mitigate any disruption a potential designation may cause the surrounding private land owners, communities and recreationists.”

The site is near where rancher Cliven Bundy and his followers were in an armed standoff over public land use with government agents in 2014. “Today’s actions will help protect this cultural legacy and will ensure that future generations are able to enjoy and appreciate these scenic and historic landscapes,” Obama said in a statement announcing the new national monuments. Sen. Orrin Hatch said Obama showed “an astonishing and egregious abuse of executive power” and that “far-left special interest groups matter more to him than the people who have lived on and cared for Utah’s lands for generations.”

Christy Goldfuss, managing director of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, said the Antiquities Act that allows a president to create monuments does not give a president authority to undo a designation, a rule the courts have upheld.
U.S. President Barack Obama declares the Bears Ears in Utah and Gold Butte area of Nevada as National Monuments. Both are known for the presence of Native American populations and archaeological sites.