President Joe Biden on Tuesday designated two landscapes Nevadas Spirit Mountain, an area that is sacred to a dozen Native American tribes, and Castner Range, a former military weapon testing facility in West Texas as Americas newest national monuments.

Our countrys natural wonders define our identity as a nation, Biden said while highlighting these and other recent conservation actions during a Conservation in Action Summit on Tuesday afternoon. Its a birthright to pass down from generation to generation. They unite us. Thats why our conservation work is so important it provides a bridge to our past and to our future, not just for today but for all ages.

The move will bring more than half a million federal acres under a new set of protections that bar new mining, drilling and other development. It comes as Biden remains under fire over last weeks decision to approve a massive and extremely controversial fossil fuel drilling project on federal land in the Alaskan Arctic.

A White House official called Tuesdays actions Bidens boldest steps to date to protect the power and promise of Americas extraordinary national wonders. Along with establishing the two monuments, Biden will direct Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo to consider establishing a new marine sanctuary protecting all U.S. waters surrounding Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, southwest of the Hawaiian Islands.

Located in the southernmost corner of Nevada, Avi Kwa Ame meaning Spirit Mountain in the Mojave language is the tallest peak in its namesake Spirit Mountain Wilderness. Tribes, environmentalists and public land advocates have aggressively lobbied the Biden administration to grant Spirit Mountain monument status, and Biden signaled he planned to do so in November. The area is rich in cultural, natural and historical resources.

Its a place of reverence, its a place of spirituality, its a place of healing, Biden said Tuesday. Now it will be recognized for the significance it holds and be preserved forever.

The Avi Kwa Ame National Monument will span about 506,000 acres, more than the 450,000 acres that tribes and environmental organizations had called for. The White House said the monument designation creates one of the largest contiguous areas of protected wildlife habitat in the United States, tying together the protected lands of the Mojave Desert in California to the southwest with the Lake Mead National Recreation Area and other protected areas to the east near the Colorado River.

This designation will honor Tribal Nations and Indigenous peoples by protecting this sacred Nevada landscape and its historically and scientifically important features, while conserving our public lands and growing Americas
outdoor recreation economy, according to a White House fact sheet on the decision.