President Obama designates 3 new sites as National Monuments

In one of his last acts in office, Obama signed an order Thursday placing the historic civil rights district of Birmingham, Alabama under the oversight of the National Park Service.

The Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument includes a now-abandoned motel where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. planned demonstrations against legalized racial segregation in 1963. It also features a park where African-American protesters were met by police dogs and fire hoses; the church where four black girls died in a Ku Klux Klan bombing, and the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.

Two other sites in east Alabama and coastal South Carolina, also were set aside as national monuments linked to equal rights.

The site in Alabama is a bus station where freedom riders were attacked.

The El Paso landmark, Mount Castner Range did not make the list. For years local supporters have signed petitions urging President Obama to give Caster Ranger the National Monument status to preserve and protect it. As of August the petition has gained over 25,000 signatures.

Castner Range extends from Hondo Pass to the North Hills neighborhood, from the side of the Franklins to nearly the top of transmountain. The rest of the Franklins are preserved by Franklin Mountains state park, but Castner Range – a former Ft. Bliss military range — is not protected.

There has been an urgency for President Obama to designate Castner Range as a national monument because advocates say it’s unlikely that Castner Range will be preserved as a National Monument under Donald Trump.