[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 11 (Tuesday, January 18, 2000)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 2831-2834]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-1297]



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  Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 11 / Tuesday, January 18, 2000 / 
Presidential Documents  

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                Proclamation 7266 of January 11, 2000

                
Boundary Enlargement of the Pinnacles National 
                Monument

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Pinnacles National Monument was established on January 
                16, 1908, for the purpose of protecting its natural 
                rock formations, known as Pinnacles Rocks, and the 
                series of talus caves underlying them. The monument 
                sits within one of the most complex and fascinating 
                geologic terrains in North America, an area where rock 
                masses have been sliced apart, transported for up to 
                hundreds of miles, and then reassembled into a 
                fantastic geologic mixture. The monument holds only 
                half of an ancient volcano; the other half is found 195 
                miles to the southeast in northern Los Angeles County. 
                The volcano was split apart and transported north by an 
                early strand of the San Andreas Fault, known as the 
                Chalone Creek Fault, which lies within the monument. 
                The pinnacles inside the monument are composed mainly 
                of volcanic breccia, a mixture of angular blocks of 
                volcanic lava, pumice, and ash. The occurrence of the 
                pinnacles within the monument is unusual, as some of 
                these volcanic rocks also contain marine fossils.

                Since 1908, the boundaries of the monument have been 
                enlarged on five occasions by presidential 
                proclamations issued pursuant to the Antiquities Act 
                (34 Stat. 225, 16 U.S.C. 431). Proclamation 1660 of May 
                7, 1923, added 562 acres to include additional natural 
                formations with a series of caves underlying them. 
                Proclamation 1704 of July 2, 1924, added adjoining 
                lands that included a spring of water and valuable 
                camping sites. Proclamation 1948 of April 13, 1931, 
                added 1,926 acres that held additional features of 
                scientific and educational interest and for 
                administrative purposes. For these same purposes, the 
                boundary was later expanded on July 11, 1933 
                (Proclamation 2050). Proclamation 2528 of December 5, 
                1941, added additional lands adjoining Pinnacles 
                National Monument in order to protect more objects of 
                scientific interest in the monument area. The boundary 
                of the monument was further expanded by statute on 
                October 20, 1976 (Public Law 94-567, 90 Stat. 2693).

                The boundary enlargement effected by this proclamation 
                is central to the continued preservation of the 
                Pinnacles National Monument's unique resources. In 
                addition to containing pieces of the same faults that 
                created the tremendous geological formations throughout 
                the monument, the expansion lands hold part of the 
                headwaters that drain into the basin of the monument. 
                Over millions of years, flash floods and stream 
                currents have helped to sculpt the land's natural 
                features. Additionally, these lands contain a 
                biological system that must be protected if the wild 
                character and ecosystem of the monument are to be 
                preserved. The geologic formations provide a stellar 
                habitat for important and sometimes fragile biological 
                resources. For example, raptor populations, including 
                prairie falcons, golden eagles, red-shouldered hawks, 
                Cooper's hawks, harriers, white-tailed kites, long-
                eared owls, and red-tailed hawks, nest on the rocky 
                formations and forage in the broad watershed. The lands 
                within the expansion area contain steep, rugged slopes 
                surrounding small canyons. Shallow rocky soils, gravel 
                creek beds, and steeply rising topography combine to 
                create a dynamic flood environment. The lands preserve 
                a complex association of plant communities 
                characteristic of the chaparral. Along the 
                watercourses, live-oaks, buckeyes,

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                and sycamore grow. Blue oak woodlands and grasslands 
                occur on the deepest soils. Creeks that flow in and out 
                of the existing monument and the expansion lands 
                provide highly valuable riparian habitat for wildlife. 
                The western pond turtle, two-striped garter snake, 
                silvery legless lizard, threatened California red-
                legged frog, and California horned lizard inhabit these 
                lands. By expanding the monument, these unique 
                biological resources can be afforded more complete 
                protection to maintain and enhance the ecosystems of 
                the monument.

                Section 2 of the Act of June 8, 1906 (34 Stat. 225, 16 
                U.S.C. 431) authorizes the President, in his 
                discretion, to declare by public proclamation historic 
                landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and 
                other objects of historic or scientific interest that 
                are situated upon the lands owned or controlled by the 
                Government of the United States to be national 
                monuments, and to reserve as a part thereof parcels of 
                land, the limits of which in all cases shall be 
                confined to the smallest area compatible with the 
                proper care and management of the objects to be 
                protected.

                WHEREAS it appears that it would be in the public 
                interest to reserve such lands as an addition to the 
                Pinnacles National Monument:

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the 
                United States of America, by the authority vested in me 
                by section 2 of the Act of June 8, 1906 (34 Stat. 225, 
                16 U.S.C. 431), do proclaim that there are hereby set 
                apart and reserved as an addition to the Pinnacles 
                National Monument, for the purpose of care, management, 
                and protection of the objects of scientific interest 
                situated on lands within the said monument, all lands 
                and interests in lands owned or controlled by the 
                United States within the boundaries of the area 
                described on the map entitled ``Pinnacles National 
                Monument Boundary Enlargement'' attached to and forming 
                a part of this proclamation. The Federal land and 
                interests in land reserved consist of approximately 
                7,900 acres, which is the smallest area compatible with 
                the proper care and management of the objects to be 
                protected.

                The enlargement of this monument is subject to valid 
                existing rights.

                All Federal lands and interests in lands within the 
                boundaries of this monument are hereby appropriated and 
                withdrawn from all forms of entry, location, selection, 
                sale, leasing, or other disposition under the public 
                land laws, including but not limited to withdrawal from 
                location, entry, and patent under the mining laws, and 
                from disposition under all laws relating to mineral and 
                geothermal leasing, other than by exchange that 
                furthers the protective purposes of the monument. Lands 
                and interests in lands not owned by the United States 
                shall be reserved as a part of the monument upon 
                acquisition of title thereto by the United States.

                There is hereby reserved, as of the date of this 
                proclamation and subject to valid existing rights, a 
                quantity of water sufficient to fulfill the purposes 
                for which the monument is established. Nothing in this 
                reservation shall be construed as a relinquishment or 
                reduction of any water use or rights reserved or 
                appropriated by the United States on or before the date 
                of this proclamation.

                The Secretary of the Interior shall manage the area 
                being added to the monument through the National Park 
                Service, under the same laws and regulations that apply 
                to the rest of the monument, except that livestock 
                grazing may be permitted in the area added by this 
                proclamation.

                Wilderness Study Areas included in the monument will 
                continue to be managed under section 603(c) of the 
                Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 
                U.S.C. 1701 et seq.).

                Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to revoke 
                any existing withdrawal, reservation, or appropriation; 
                however, the national monument shall be the dominant 
                reservation.

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                Warning is hereby given to all unauthorized persons not 
                to appropriate, injure, destroy, or remove any feature 
                of this monument and not to locate or settle upon any 
                of the lands thereof.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                eleventh day of January, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand, and of the Independence of the United States 
                of America the two hundred and twentieth.

                    (Presidential Sig.)

Billing code 3195-01-P

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[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TD18JA00.027


[FR Doc 00-1297
Filed 1-14-00; 10:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-C