Six New Natural Landmarks Named

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Round Top Butte, Oregon

Photograph courtesy J. Kagan, National Park Service

Round Top Butte National Natural Landmark includes a basaltic butte, flat volcanic plains, and small hills near Medford, Oregon. A butte is an isolated hill or small mountain with steep or precipitous sides and a top that can be variously flat, rounded, or pointed.

The new landmark's "exceptional" habitat is dominated by native bunchgrasses and contains a mix of dry grassland, Ponderosa pine, white oak, and buck brush.

The Round Top landmark encompasses 747 acres (302 hectares) spread across two sites: an established Research Natural Area managed by the BLM and a preserve overseen by the nonprofit The Nature Conservancy.

(Also see "Photos: New Natural Wonders Added to World Heritage List.")

Published June 28, 2011

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Golden Fossil Areas, Colorado

Photograph by Barry Gutierrez, AP

A sign helps highlight an Iguanadon track along Dinosaur Ridge, a small slope in the mountains of Morrison, Colorado. The ridge is now part of the newly named Morrison-Golden Fossil Areas National Natural Landmark.

Among the most important paleontological sites in the western U.S., the 19-acre (8-hectare) region is one of the few places in the world that contains the combined fossil footprints of a variety of ancient reptiles, birds, and mammals.

Overall, "some of the landmarks are the best remaining examples of a type of feature in our nation—sometimes in the world—and we should continue to recognize and study these important natural features," National Park Service Director Jonathon B. Jarvis said in a statement.

(See pictures: "Dinosaur 'Death Pits' May Be Fossil Footprints.")

Published June 28, 2011