[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 114 (Tuesday, June 13, 2000)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 37249-37252]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-15110]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 114 / Tuesday, June 13, 2000 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 37249]]


                Proclamation 7318 of June 9, 2000

                
Establishment of the Cascade-Siskiyou National 
                Monument

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                With towering fir forests, sunlit oak groves, 
                wildflower-strewn meadows, and steep canyons, the 
                Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument is an ecological 
                wonder, with biological diversity unmatched in the 
                Cascade Range. This rich enclave of natural resources 
                is a biological crossroads--the interface of the 
                Cascade, Klamath, and Siskiyou ecoregions, in an area 
                of unique geology, biology, climate, and topography.

                The monument is home to a spectacular variety of rare 
                and beautiful species of plants and animals, whose 
                survival in this region depends upon its continued 
                ecological integrity. Plant communities present a rich 
                mosaic of grass and shrublands, Garry and California 
                black oak woodlands, juniper scablands, mixed conifer 
                and white fir forests, and wet meadows. Stream bottoms 
                support broad-leaf deciduous riparian trees and shrubs. 
                Special plant communities include rosaceous chaparral 
                and oak-juniper woodlands. The monument also contains 
                many rare and endemic plants, such as Greene's Mariposa 
                lily, Gentner's fritillary, and Bellinger's meadowfoam.

                The monument supports an exceptional range of fauna, 
                including one of the highest diversities of butterfly 
                species in the United States. The Jenny Creek portion 
                of the monument is a significant center of fresh water 
                snail diversity, and is home to three endemic fish 
                species, including a long-isolated stock of redband 
                trout. The monument contains important populations of 
                small mammals, reptile and amphibian species, and 
                ungulates, including important winter habitat for deer. 
                It also contains old growth habitat crucial to the 
                threatened Northern spotted owl and numerous other bird 
                species such as the western bluebird, the western 
                meadowlark, the pileated woodpecker, the flammulated 
                owl, and the pygmy nuthatch.

                The monument's geology contributes substantially to its 
                spectacular biological diversity. The majority of the 
                monument is within the Cascade Mountain Range. The 
                western edge of the monument lies within the older 
                Klamath Mountain geologic province. The dynamic plate 
                tectonics of the area, and the mixing of igneous, 
                metamorphic, and sedimentary geological formations, 
                have resulted in diverse lithologies and soils. Along 
                with periods of geological isolation and a range of 
                environmental conditions, the complex geologic history 
                of the area has been instrumental in producing the 
                diverse vegetative and biological richness seen today.

                One of the most striking features of the Western 
                Cascades in this area is Pilot Rock, located near the 
                southern boundary of the monument. The rock is a 
                volcanic plug, a remnant of a feeder vent left after a 
                volcano eroded away, leaving an outstanding example of 
                the inside of a volcano. Pilot Rock has sheer, vertical 
                basalt faces up to 400 feet above the talus slope at 
                its base, with classic columnar jointing created by the 
                cooling of its andesite composition.

                The Siskiyou Pass in the southwest corner of the 
                monument contains portions of the Oregon/California 
                Trail, the region's main north/south travel route first 
                established by Native Americans in prehistoric times, 
                and used by Peter Skene Ogden in his 1827 exploration 
                for the Hudson's Bay Company.

[[Page 37250]]

                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 a national monument 
                to be known as the Cascade-Siskiyou 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 the Cascade-Siskiyou National 
                Monument, for the purpose of protecting the objects 
                identified above, all lands and interests in lands 
                owned or controlled by the United States within the 
                boundaries of the area described on the map entitled 
                ``Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument'' attached to and 
                forming a part of this proclamation. The Federal land 
                and interests in land reserved consist of approximately 
                52,000 acres, which is the smallest area compatible 
                with the proper care and management of the objects to 
                be protected.

                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, or 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.

                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 this 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 commercial harvest of timber or other vegetative 
                material is prohibited, except when part of an 
                authorized science-based ecological restoration project 
                aimed at meeting protection and old growth enhancement 
                objectives. Any such project must be consistent with 
                the purposes of this proclamation. No portion of the 
                monument shall be considered to be suited for timber 
                production, and no part of the monument shall be used 
                in a calculation or provision of a sustained yield of 
                timber. Removal of trees from within the monument area 
                may take place only if clearly needed for ecological 
                restoration and maintenance or public safety.

                For the purpose of protecting the objects identified 
                above, the Secretary of the Interior shall prohibit all 
                motorized and mechanized vehicle use off road and shall 
                close the Schoheim Road, except for emergency or 
                authorized administrative purposes.

                Lands and interests in lands within the proposed 
                monument not owned by the United States shall be 
                reserved as a part of the monument upon acquisition of 
                title thereto by the United States.

                The Secretary of the Interior shall manage the monument 
                through the Bureau of Land Management, pursuant to 
                applicable legal authorities (including, where 
                applicable, the Act of August 28, 1937, as amended (43 
                U.S.C. 1181a-1181j)), to implement the purposes of this 
                proclamation.

                The Secretary of the Interior shall prepare, within 3 
                years of this date, a management plan for this 
                monument, and shall promulgate such regulations for its 
                management as he deems appropriate. The management plan 
                shall

[[Page 37251]]

                include appropriate transportation planning that 
                addresses the actions, including road closures or 
                travel restrictions, necessary to protect the objects 
                identified in this proclamation.

                The Secretary of the Interior shall study the impacts 
                of livestock grazing on the objects of biological 
                interest in the monument with specific attention to 
                sustaining the natural ecosystem dynamics. Existing 
                authorized permits or leases may continue with 
                appropriate terms and conditions under existing laws 
                and regulations. Should grazing be found incompatible 
                with protecting the objects of biological interest, the 
                Secretary shall retire the grazing allotments pursuant 
                to the processes of applicable law. Should grazing 
                permits or leases be relinquished by existing holders, 
                the Secretary shall not reallocate the forage available 
                under such permits or for livestock grazing purposes 
                unless the Secretary specifically finds, pending the 
                outcome of the study, that such reallocation will 
                advance the purposes of the proclamation.

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

                Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to enlarge 
                or diminish the jurisdiction of the State of Oregon 
                with respect to fish and wildlife management.

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

                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 
                ninth day of June, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand, and of the Independence of the United States 
                of America the two hundred and twenty-fourth.

                    (Presidential Sig.)

Billing code 3195-01-P


[[Page 37252]]

[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TD13JN00.002


[FR Doc. 00-15110
Filed 6-12-00; 10:47 am]

Billing code 3195-01-C
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