Obama to Announce 3 New Calif. Monuments

President Barack Obama is planning to name three new national monuments in California on Friday, reserving nearly 1.8 million acres for permanent conservation. The Sand to Snow National Monument, which will comprise 154,000 acres, will span from the desert floor near Palm Springs to the peak of Mount San Gorgonio in the San Bernardino National Forest. The Mojave Trails National Monument will feature 1.6 million acres between the Mojave National Preserveand Joshua Tree National Park and the Castle Mountains National Monument will stretch across a 21,000-acre gap in the Mojave National Preserve. Obama is planning to designate the monuments using his authority under the 1906 Antiquities Act, the White House said in a statement Thursday.