Biden, in Colorado, designates his 1st new national monument

By COLLEEN LONG and SEUNG MIN KIM
Associated Press

LEADVILLE, Colo. (AP) — President Joe Biden designated the first national monument of his administration at Camp Hale, a World War II-era training site in Colorado. The announcement is a boost to the state’s senior Democratic senator, Michael Bennet, who has for years advocated for the designation and is in a competitive re-election bid this November. The location is an alpine training site where U.S. soldiers prepared for battles in the Italian Alps during World War II. The Biden administration is also pausing new mining and oil and gas drilling on 225,000 acres of public land in the Thompson Divide, a natural gas-rich area not far from Camp Hale.