Story highlights In Utah, Obama's use of executive power to protect the land drew condemnation from some Republicans

Congress could pass measures restricting or altering the designations

(CNN) President Barack Obama moved Wednesday to preserve wide swaths of land in the American West, including a controversial designation making the Bears Ears area in Utah a national monument, pitting him against the state's Republican governor and congressional delegation.

Obama said in a statement that the 1.35-million-acre Bears Ears monument, so called for its distinctive pair of buttes, would "protect some of the country's most significant natural, cultural and archaeological resources, including important ancestral grounds for numerous tribes."

A second national monument in Nevada, Gold Butte, preserves 300,000 acres on the outskirts of Las Vegas.

"Today's actions will help protect this cultural legacy and will ensure that future generations are able to enjoy and appreciate these scenic and historic landscapes," Obama said.

In Utah, the prospect of Obama using his executive power to protect the land drew condemnation from some Republicans and lands-rights activists, who have argued that cutting the land off from development could be economically damaging to the state.

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