PUBLIC LANDS -- Using his executive authority under the 1906 Antiquities Act, President Obama on Friday created the largest ecologically protected area on Earth -- a Pacific Ocean sanctuary so remote few people will travel there; a place with a name that will boggle your mind.

The Papahanaumokuakea (pronounced “Papa-ha-now-moh-koo-ah-kay-ah”) Marine National Monument was established by President George W. Bush a decade ago, but Obama has quadrupled its size to 582,578 square miles of land and sea in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

The monument of coral reefs, seamounts and undersea ridges and fisheries covers an area greater than the size of Texas, California and Montana combined.

The expansion was opposed by commercial longline fishermen and it will take a long educational campaign to convince them that conserving fisheries ultimately could benefit everyone outside the protected area.

The big question is enforcement in such a huge, remote area of ocean.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is now responsible for administering or co-administering nearly 1 billion acres of lands and waters for wildlife, more than any other entity on the planet.

Meanwhile, Obama’s action Friday underscores the high priority he has placed on issues of conservation and climate change in his second term, according to the Washington Post.

So far, the president has used his executive powers to protect more than 548 million acres of federal land and water, more than double the set-asides of any of his predecessors.