[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 194 (Tuesday, December 18, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2601]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  HONORING PINNACLES 100TH ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. SAM FARR

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 18, 2007

  Mr. FARR. Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the 100th 
Anniversary of Pinnacles National Monument. The extraordinary geology 
of the landscape has captured the imagination of Central California 
homesteaders, ranchers, naturalists, and philanthropists since the 
1800s. A remnant volcano, the Pinnacles Volcanic Formation of rocky 
fingers of stone, talus caves, and lofty cliffs create a stark contrast 
to the smooth rolling hills of the surrounding Gabilan Range.
  More than 14,000 acres of congressionally designated wilderness 
together with its multiple ecological niches provides the best 
remaining refuge for floral and faunal species representative of the 
Central California Coast. Located within the Pacific Flyway migratory 
route, Pinnacles has the highest concentration of nesting Prairie 
Falcons of any National Park site, and provides a safe haven for 20 
species holding special Federal or State status.
  Pinnacles is the only National Park site within the ancestral home 
range of the California condor that releases and maintains this 
Nation's largest bird species. There are nearly 400 species of bees at 
Pinnacles, the highest known bee diversity per unit area of any place 
on Earth. The monument sustains a showcase example of chaparral, a 
unique miniature forest ecosystem that elsewhere in coastal California 
is losing ground to ever-increasing urban expansion.
  Life flourishes in the protective shadow of this remnant volcano 
whose location along the San Andreas fault zone has carried it nearly 
195 miles northward from its place of origin and contains the Nation's 
largest talus caves. Research on Pinnacles' geology has helped 
revolutionize the theory of plate tectonics.
  In this landscape Pinnacles National Monument preserves natural and 
cultural resources whose stories are woven into the fabric of this 
Nation's history and heritage. On January 16, 1908, under the authority 
of the newly created Antiquities Act, Theodore Roosevelt proclaimed 
2,080 acres of the Pinnacles National Forest Reserve as Pinnacles 
National Monument. Today Pinnacles covers over 26,000 acres across both 
Monterey and San Benito Counties. Surrounding lands are still grazed by 
cattle, ridden by cowboys and vaqueros, and farmed by descendants of 
the first settlers who homesteaded the region.
  Madam Speaker, I know the Members of this House will join me in 
noting this important milestone for Pinnacles National Monument: a 
haven for solitude; a recreational getaway for climbers, hikers and 
lovers of open space; a springboard for personal journeys of 
enrichment; and a continuing reminder of America's history preserved 
for future generations to study and enjoy.