According to his top aides, President Bush will create three new marine national monuments in the Pacific Ocean today, a move that will help preserve sprawling sea and island ecosystems from oil and gas extraction and commercial fishing.

Bush's decision to safeguard far-flung areas totaling 195,280 square miles, which comes just two weeks before he leaves office, underscores his contradictory environmental record. While he has resisted imposing mandatory curbs on greenhouse gas emissions linked to climate change and has opened large areas of the nation to drilling, mining and other use of resources, by the end of his term he will have protected more ocean than any person in history.

Each location harbors unique species and some of the rarest geological formations on Earth -- from the world's largest land crab to a bird that incubates its eggs in the heat of underwater volcanoes.

All will be protected as national monuments - the same status afforded to statues and cultural sites - under the 1906 Antiquities Act. The law allows the government to immediately phase out commercial fishing and other extractive uses.

However, recreational fishing, tourism and scientific research with a federal permit could still occur inside the three areas. The designations will also not conflict with U.S. military activities or freedom of navigation, White House officials said.