U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, today criticized the Obama administration’s latest action to unilaterally designate three new national monuments in California’s Mojave Desert. The new monuments, encompassing almost 2 million acres,  are the Mojave Trails and the Sand to Snow and Castle Mountains.

“Once again, this administration has chosen to go around Congress to unilaterally designate new national monuments under the Antiquities Act. Today’s actions are just the latest in this administration’s quest to lock up as much federal land as possible – even beyond what has been contemplated in Congress, and against the wishes of many local residents. If this administration is truly concerned about conservation, it should prioritize taking care of the land that the federal government already manages, and leave new land designations to the people’s duly-elected representatives in Congress.”

Murkowski is chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.