With little or no input by state and local authorities, President Obama has designated more than a million acres in three states as federal monuments. The designation serverely restricts use of the land for recreation and development. Fox News: Despite Republican resistance, President Obama announced the creation of three more national monuments on Friday, encompassing more than a million acres of protected sites in Nevada, Texas and California. The sites include a monument at Waco Mammoth -- a small, historically rare site in central Texas where archeologists have discovered the remains of 65,000-year old Columbian mammoths, which roamed free during the ice age. Also designated is an area of over 700,000 acres of Nevada’s Basin and Range known as the Great Basin Region. It is home to 4,000-year-old rock art known as petroglyphs, as well as sculptures of Mesoamerican life by artist Michael Heizer. Minority Leader Harry Reid has been pushing for this designation for...(Read Full Post)