Washington

In a massive expansion of his lands legacy, President Barack Obama on Friday created three new national monuments in Nevada, California and Texas.

Using his authority under the Antiquities Act, the president created a protected area spanning roughly 704,000 acres in central Nevada's Basin and Range, as well as smaller ones in California's Berryessa Snow Mountain and Texas' Waco Mammoth.

With the new designations, Obama has established or expanded 19 national monuments for a total of more than 260 million acres of public lands and waters, more than any previous president. The Basin and Range monument alone, at more than 1,000 square miles, is nearly the size of Rhode Island.

Before Friday, Obama had protected 1,142,036 acres of public land; that figure has now nearly doubled, to 2,176,821 acres. He has now bested Teddy Roosevelt in terms of protecting more land under the Antiquities Act, though Presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Franklin D. Roosevelt have put more land off limits to development under the law.

"President Obama's plan to proclaim new national monuments in Nevada, California, and Texas speaks volumes about the power of local citizens who stand up to protect our public lands," said Mike Matz, director of Pew's U.S. public lands program.