California's spectacular coast

Bob Wick/Bureau of Land Management

President Barack Obama added more of northern California's beautiful coastline this week to a national monument, ensuring it will be preserved and protected. Much of the credit goes to photographer Bob Wick.

This image shows part of Point Arena-Stornetta Public Lands, which have been designated as a national monument.

Read more: Amateur photographer's images helped preserve national treasure

Rugged, remote beauty of West Coast

Bob Wick/Bureau of Land Management

Wick, a wilderness specialist with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, moonlights as an amateur photographer. His powerful images propelled a grassroots campaign to protect the rugged stretch of Mendocino County coastline in California.

This image shows part of Point Arena-Stornetta Public Lands, which have been designated as a national monument.

Rugged, remote beauty of West Coast

Bob Wick/Bureau of Land Management

Wick's photos do more than describe the new addition to the California Coastal National Monument -- they take you there.

This image shows part of Point Arena-Stornetta Public Lands, which have been designated as a national monument.

Rugged, remote beauty of West Coast

Bob Wick/Bureau of Land Management

The 1,665 newly-added acres in Mendocino are the first piece of the national monument actually to be onshore. The rest is comprised of the rocks and small islands dotting the coast from Mexico to Oregon.

This image shows part of Point Arena-Stornetta Public Lands, which have been designated as a national monument.

Rugged, remote beauty of West Coast

Bob Wick/Bureau of Land Management

"The fact that it sits just offshore of the most populated state in the union, yet it has such pristine habitat on it," Wick says.

This image shows part of Point Arena-Stornetta Public Lands, which have been designated as a national monument.

Rugged, remote beauty of West Coast

Bob Wick/Bureau of Land Management

This image shows part of Point Arena-Stornetta Public Lands, which have been designated as a national monument.

Rugged, remote beauty of West Coast

Bob Wick/Bureau of Land Management

"My photos did play a role in that people who weren't visually aware of how spectacular this coastline could get a feel for it," Wick says.

Rugged, remote beauty of West Coast

Bob Wick/Bureau of Land Management

When not at his desk in Sacramento, Wick loves showing off the public's crown jewels. But what he loves best is to trek deep into our public lands to capture the wild, remote beauty few of us are fortunate to see.

Rugged, remote beauty of West Coast

Bob Wick/Bureau of Land Management

Wick has taken tens of thousands of pictures over the last 26 years.

Rugged, remote beauty of West Coast

Bob Wick/Bureau of Land Management

"I love the scenic beauty of our American landscapes, especially the West," Wick says. "It's some of the most sublime terrain in North America."

Rugged, remote beauty of West Coast

Bob Wick/Bureau of Land Management

You feel just this big in the world, because nature is so huge," Wick says, holding his fingers close together.

Rugged, remote beauty of West Coast

CBS News

Amateur photographer Bob Wick, a wilderness specialist with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.