San Gabriel Mountains Now National Monument

President Obama declared a large area within the San Gabriel Mountains near Los Angeles as a national monument, on Friday.

Obama used his authority under the Antiquities act of 1906 to declare the area as a national monument. Around 350,000 acres of land have been set aside as a recreation destination.

Speaking at the Frank G. Bonelli Regional Park in Los Angeles, Obama said that he received inspiration to preserve public lands from President Abraham Lincoln's efforts in preserving parts of the Yosemite Valley without seeing it in person, reports the Associated Press.

Obama also said that the administration was looking at further opportunities to preserve federal lands and waters, especially in areas where communities were speaking up.

"There haven't been enough resources to manage and maintain this area the way it deserves," Obama said. "We have a responsibility to be good stewards of those landscapes for future generations."

"Within these hills lies millennia of history including the ancient rock art of native peoples, the first Americans," Obama said. "It was here at the Mount Wilson Observatory that Edwin P. Hubble showed the universe to be ever expanding, and it's where astronomers still explore the mysteries of space," he added, reports nbclosangeles.com.

However, some legislators and local officials have criticizes Obama's decision.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif, said that the Obama administration was taking unilateral actions without consulting the congress or the public.  McCarthy said that though he supported the use of national forests and other public lands in multiple ways, the present decision by Obama severely restricted usage, reports AP.