Mammoth bones, prehistoric rock carvings and more than a million acres of wilderness will be protected as part of three new national monuments in California, Nevada and Texas.

The move by Barack Obama, announced by the White House on Friday, brings to 19 the number of monuments the president has created or expanded since taking office. Environmental advocates hailed the new monuments for bringing sorely needed protection to natural American treasures – even as Republicans pursued legislation to stop them.

In Texas, Obama will create a monument at Waco Mammoth, a relatively small site in the centre of the state where archaeologists have discovered the remains of 24 Columbian mammoths – the largest of the mammoth species – from more than 65,000 years ago, the White House said.

The Columbian mammoth roamed freely in North America during the Pleistocene epoch, known colloquially as the ice age. The site marks the only spot in the US where a nursery herd has been discovered. It is also home to preserved remains of other ancient species including the sabre-toothed cat, dwarf antelope and western camel.

With the designation, the National Park Service will join Baylor University, the city of Waco and the Waco Mammoth Foundation in managing the site.

“We join elite company with our fellow NPS members,” said site manager Raegan King. “We’re very honored.”

King said the site’s new status would allow it to flourish, as it would “reach a nationwide and global audience”.

“We are also looking forward to working with NPS on education, interpretation and scientific research,” King said.

Now, professional paleontologists can travel to the site through NPS to conduct research.

“This site is very unique for science,” King said. “It sheds light on how animals behaved in the past. That helps paleontologists learn and teach the public about the importance of preservation, and how we can take action to preserve these remains.”

Nevada’s Basin and Range, home to rare rock art from 4,000 years ago, will also become a national monument. The White House said more than 700,000 acres of public land would be protected in an untouched area.

In addition to petroglyphs, the site also contains “City”, an array of abstract sculptures the artist Michael Heizer has worked on for more than four decades. The project evokes elements of Mesoamerican life, with ceremonial mounds interspersed with more modern architecture.

Harry Reid, the Senate’s top Democrat, has been pushing for years to protect the site and its surroundings in his home state.

The White House said “this unbroken expanse attracts recreationists seeking vastness and solitude and provides significant wildlife habitat and migration corridors”. But community members in Lincoln County, which contains the bulk of Basin and Range, are opposed to the designation – an “imperial edict”, as county commissioner Kevin Phillips called it.

“We don’t want it. We’re disgusted. It’s loathsome,” Phillips said.



He sees the designation as just another site to go under the federal government’s control, and as an impediment to economic growth despite promises of a tourism boost from the White House. The federal government currently controls about 84% of Nevada.



“We have very little opportunity for economic growth and development,” Phillips said. “Generations from now on are locked out. It’s an absolute disaster for Americans, and for the promises that were made. It makes my blood boil.”



Tourists and nature lovers in California will see more than 330,000 acres set aside for a new monument at Berryessa Snow Mountain. The White House touted the area’s rich biodiversity and Native American cultural sites, but the area is best known as a destination for hikers, campers, fishermen and hunters. Officials said designating the site as a monument would probably prompt increased visits to the area and drive economic growth in the coming years.



“I applaud the president, because his historic action will preserve this magnificent area for generations and boost the local economy,” said Democratic senator Barbara Boxer.

The designation follows a campaign from Tuleyome, a California preservation group, which has worked since 2007 to build local support.

The group’s executive director, Sara Husby, said it started by seeking congressional action to designate the area, but the bills stalled in committee. Tuleyome saw an opportunity in Obama’s authority under the Antiquities Act.



Husby said the group spent the majority of its campaign discussing the benefits of designation with community members.



“People really wanted to see the area protected,” she said.



According to Husby, benefits will include economic boosts and conservation to the area since it will now be managed on a landscape level.

Republicans have complained for years that Obama has abused his authority to designate monuments. In anticipation of Obama’s move, this week a Nevada congressman, Cresent Hardy, introduced an amendment to an Interior Department bill that would block Obama from creating monuments in areas where there has been local opposition. The amendment, which successfully made its way into the bill, lists counties in Nevada, Arizona, California, New Mexico, Oregon and Utah as off-limits.

“Any decisions that restrict ranching, recreation or other types of land-use activities should have as much local input as possible,” Hardy said, adding that the amendment was “about empowering local communities and local stakeholders most affected by monument designations”.

Under the 1906 Antiquities Act, presidents have broad authority to designate historic or ecologically significant sites without congressional approval, protecting those areas from new development like mining, oil wells and grazing.

Obama has used that authority aggressively as he has worked to secure a legacy of protecting the environment and warding off the effects of climate change. Earlier this year, Obama designated new monuments in Hawaii, Illinois and Colorado, and last year he expanded the Pacific Remote Islands marine national monument to cover 490,000 square miles, making it the largest marine preserve in the world.

California’s Berryessa Snow Mountain national monument will be managed by the US Forest Service and the Interior Department’s bureau of land management (BLM), the White House said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report