Obama names new national monument

[Geee]

The Hill:

President Obama will designate 350,000 acres of the San Gabriel Mountains in California as a national monument on Friday, marking the thirteenth time he's named a new monument in his presidency.

The new protections are for a range in Los Angeles County, where Obama will make the announcement.

The designation brings to an end a decades-long battle from environmentalists, Latinos, and more, who called for the mountain range to be declared a national monument.

The protections cover 30 percent of the drinking water for the 15 million people living in the surrounding area, and 70 percent of the recreation space.

 

The White House noted in a fact sheet released Friday that Los Angeles County is one of the most disadvantaged in the country when it comes to park access for minorities.

 

 

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I hear his next move will be to have his head carved there

[Geee]

Obama monuments rile the GOP

 

President Obama’s growing list of national monuments is angering Republicans, with many calling the increased land protections an abuse of power.

 

The president has named 13 national monuments so far using the century-old Antiquities Act, putting tight restrictions on more than 1 million acres of public land.

 

The most recent designation came last week, when the president designated more than 350,000 acres of the San Gabriel Mountains in California as a monument near Los Angeles.

 

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While Obama and his allies see the land protections as furthering the cause of conservation, Republicans say they are evidence of an “imperial presidency.”

“The Antiquities Act is a political arrow in the president’s quiver,” said Melissa Subbotin, spokeswoman for Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah). “It’s abused for political purposes.”

Like delays in enforcing parts of ObamaCare and immigration policies to defer deportations, monuments have become a way for the president to score second-term achievements without Congress.

He has ramped up his use of the authority since winning reelection, with nine of his monument designations coming in his second term.

Earlier this year, Obama established the Organ Mountains Desert Peaks National Monument, protecting more than a half million acres in New Mexico that features 9,000-foot rocks and populations of antelope, mountain lions and falcons.

In June, he expanded to nearly 500,000 square miles a sanctuary near remote Pacific islands, putting the area off-limits to fishing and energy exploration.

http://thehill.com/policy/220837-obama-monuments-rile-the-gop