Coastal area designated as preserve

President Obama designated a 1,665-acre area along the coast of Mendocino as a nature preserve on Tuesday, March 11.

The Point Arena-Stornetta Public Lands will be added to the existing Coastal California National Monument—1,100 miles of coast that President Bill Clinton protected in 2000, according to The Washington Post. The new reserve features jagged bluffs, sand dunes and tidal pools and is home to several types of migratory waterfowl and the threatened Point Arena mountain beaver. The Bureau of Land Management will develop a management plan for the area over the next three years.

“California tourism is obviously important, and the California coastline I think is as big of an attraction as there is,” Obama said upon signing the proclamation.