President Joe Biden is planning to use his executive authority to expand the borders of two national monuments, protecting more than 100,000 acres of nature, sources told The Washington Post.
Though the White House has yet to confirm the move, Biden is expected to expand the perimeters of San Gabriel Mountains National Monument by about 110,000 acres and the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument by about 13,000 acres, according to CNN. Both monuments are located in California and were originally designated by former President Barack Obama.
As the Post reported, the move will come after Congress failed to act to approve the measures. Biden will use his authority under the 1906 Antiquities Act, which granted authority to the President of the United States to establish national monuments from existing federal lands. The historic law was the first in the United States “to provide general legal protection of cultural and natural resources of historic or scientific interest on federal lands,” per the National Park Service.
“The San Gabriel Mountains are among the most pristine and beautiful public lands in the country, with more visitors annually than Yellowstone, and they are right next to one of the nation’s densest and most park-deprived population centers,” said California Representative Judy Chu, who lobbied for the monument to be expanded, in a statement reported by the Post.
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