President Obama has announced the designation of three new national monuments in the California desert -- Mojave Trails, Sand to Snow and Castle Mountains -- protecting 1.8 million acres of desert lands. The Mojave Trails National Monument, at 1.4 million acres, helps link Mojave National Preserve and Joshua Tree National Park, allowing wildlife to migrate in a changing climate.

In permanently protecting these special places, the president follows in the footsteps of nearly every president since 1906, who have used the Antiquities Act to leave a legacy of national monuments more than 140 times. These new monuments are habitat for rare wildlife like desert tortoises, Mohave fringe-toed lizards, desert kit foxes and western burrowing owls.

Read more in the Los Angeles Times and get the details on all three monuments.

Modified from Center for Biological Diversity