Obama continues to defend the environment, two new protected areas established in Utah and Nevada

Environment · Lorenzo Brenna · 2017-01-03

The outgoing United States president has announced the creation of two new nature reserves, to protect areas considered sacred by Native Americans.

These are Barack Obama's final days in office — on 20 January he will hand over the White House to Donald Trump. Before the transfer of power, Obama took the opportunity to further expand the already considerable number of protected areas established during his term. He is, in fact, the president who has created the greatest number of nature reserves in the entire history of the United States — 27 in total.

Presidente Usa Obama — During his administration, Barack Obama committed strongly to defending the environment: he created numerous protected areas, vetoed the legislation passed by Congress on the construction of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, and promoted incentives and policies in favour of solar energy (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Where the new protected areas are located

On 28 December, Obama announced the creation of two new national monuments (roughly the United States equivalent of a national park, established directly by the president of the United States of America). The new protected areas are located in Utah and Nevada and will safeguard a combined area of 1.65 million acres. The decision to protect the two areas, which the White House considers at risk of looting and vandalism, "will serve to protect their cultural heritage and ensure that future generations can appreciate their landscapes and history," Obama declared.

Bears Ears National Monument nello Utah — "We have always looked to Bears Ears as a place of refuge, a place where we can gather medicinal herbs and plants — it is for us a place of prayer and of sacredness that deserves timely and lasting protection," said Russell Begaye, president of the Navajo Nation (Photo by: Education Images/UIG via Getty Images)

Areas sacred to Native peoples and dinosaur remains

The first national monument, Bears Ears National Monument, will cover an area of more than 540,000 hectares in the Four Corners region of Utah, while the second, Gold Butte, in Nevada, will extend across approximately 12,000 hectares. In the two reserves, which hold great spiritual and symbolic value for the Native peoples who consider them sacred, no new mining will be permitted. As well as being important to Native Americans, the two areas are characterised by remarkable archaeological and environmental richness: Bears Ears National Monument contains numerous archaeological sites dating back more than 3,500 years, while within Gold Butte traces of dinosaurs, rock paintings and ancient artefacts have been found.

Pitture rupestri nell'area del Gold Butte — "We congratulate President Obama for taking action to permanently protect the culture and history of Gold Butte and Bears Ears. Protected open spaces such as these are vital for healthy air, water and climate," commented Sierra Club executive director Michael Brune (Photo by Ronda Churchill for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Republican protests

The decision was not welcomed with enthusiasm by everyone: Utah Republicans would have preferred Bears Ears National Monument to be designated for the extraction of mineral resources and hydrocarbons. Obama was accused of having placed the interests of Native peoples above those of the poorer communities living within the new protected areas, who will now be unable to benefit from the advantages associated with mining.