The Senate this week passed a bill that will upgrade California's Pinnacles National Monument to a national park, a designation that could draw more tourists to the area's famed volcanic spires and endangered California condors.

The bill by Rep. Sam Farr (D-Calif.), which the House passed by voice vote in July, will turn the 26,000-acre monument into the nation's 59th national park. The Senate passed the measure Sunday by unanimous consent.

Farr this week called Pinnacles "the missing novel in our national park's library," saying it will now enjoy the same status of parks like Yosemite and Yellowstone.

"Today is a great day not just for California but for all Americans, who will want to now come visit this geological and ecological wonder," Farr said in a statement.

The Wilderness Society this week praised passage of the bill, which it said would protect an area home to volcanic spires and crags, bat-filled caves, oak savannas and chaparral hillsides.

"It is a spectacular and unique place," said Paul Spitler, director of wilderness policy at the Wilderness Society. "Republicans and Democrats may not see eye to eye on all issues, but they do agree that a Pinnacles National Park will help boost tourism dollars in a tough economy."

But Spitler said he was disappointed that the House had stripped the bill of a provision to designate 3,000 acres of wilderness.

President Theodore Roosevelt established the monument in 1908 to preserve unique volcanic rock formations, but the monument's significance and role have grown over the past century.

It now contains some of the best expanses of California grasslands, oak woodland and chaparral habitats; provides a refuge for 32 species with special federal or state status; and is the reintroduction site for endangered California condors into the wild.

Since the monument is already a unit of the National Park Service, Farr's bill is not expected to significantly alter the site's management.