[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 14 (Monday, January 22, 2001)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 7335-7338]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-2097]



[[Page 7333]]

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Part XX





The President





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Proclamation 7392--Boundary Enlargement and Modifications of the Buck 
Island Reef National Monument



Proclamation 7393--Establishment of the Carrizo Plain National Monument



Proclamation 7394--Establishment of the Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks 
National Monument



Proclamation 7395--Establishment of the Minidoka Internment National 
Monument



Proclamation 7396--Establishment of the Pompeys Pillar National 
Monument



Proclamation 7397--Establishment of the Sonoran Desert National 
Monument



Proclamation 7398--Establishment of the Upper Missouri River Breaks 
National Monument



Proclamation 7399--Establishment of the Virgin Islands Coral Reef 
National Monument
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                         Presidential Documents 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 14 / Monday, January 22, 2001 / 
Presidential Documents  

 ___________________________________________________________________

 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 7335]]

                Proclamation 7392 of January 17, 2001

                
Boundary Enlargement and Modifications of the 
                Buck Island Reef National Monument

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Buck Island Reef National Monument was established on 
                December 28, 1961 (Presidential Proclamation 3443), 
                just north of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, for 
                the purpose of protecting Buck Island and its adjoining 
                shoals, rocks, and undersea coral reef formations. 
                Considered one of the finest marine gardens in the 
                Caribbean Sea, the unique natural area and the rare 
                marine life which are dependent upon it are subject to 
                the constant threat of commercial exploitation and 
                destruction. The monument's vulnerable floral and 
                faunal communities live in a fragile, interdependent 
                relationship and include habitats essential for 
                sustaining the tropical marine ecosystem: coral reefs, 
                sea grass beds, octocoral hardbottom, sand communities, 
                algal plains, shelf edge, and oceanic habitats. The 
                boundary enlargement effected by this proclamation 
                brings into the monument additional objects of 
                scientific and historic interest, and provides 
                necessary further protection for the resources of the 
                existing monument.

                The expansion area includes additional coral reefs 
                (patch, pur and groove, and deep and wall), unusual 
                ``haystacks'' of elkhorn coral, barrier reefs, sea 
                grass beds, and sand communities, as well as algal 
                plains, shelf edge, and other supporting habitats not 
                included within the initial boundary. Oceanic currents 
                carry planktonic larvae of coral reef associated 
                animals to the shallow nearshore coral reef and sea 
                grass habitats, where they transform into their 
                juvenile stage. As they mature over months or years, 
                they move offshore and take up residence in the deeper 
                coral reefs, octocoral hardbottom, and algal plains. 
                Between the monument's nearshore habitats and its shelf 
                edge spawning sites are habitats that play essential 
                roles during specific developmental stages of many 
                reef-associated species, including spawning migrations 
                of many reef fish species and crustaceans. Several 
                threatened and endangered species forage, breed, nest, 
                rest, or calve in the waters included in the enlarged 
                monument, including humpback whales, pilot whales, four 
                species of dolphins, brown pelicans, least terns, and 
                the hawksbill, leatherback, and green sea turtles. 
                Countless species of reef fishes, invertebrates, 
                plants, and over 12 species of sea birds utilize this 
                area.

                The ecologically important shelf edge is the spawning 
                site for many reef species, such as most groupers and 
                snappers, and the spiny lobster. Plummeting to abyssal 
                depths, this habitat of vertical walls, honeycombed 
                with holes and caves, is home to deepwater species and 
                a refuge for other species.

                The expansion area also contains significant cultural 
                and historical objects. In March 1797, the slave ship 
                Mary, captained by James Hunter of Liverpool, sank in 
                this area, and its cargo of 240 slaves was saved and 
                brought to Christiansted. In March 1803, the General 
                Abercrombie, captained by James Booth of Liverpool, 
                also wrecked in this area, and its cargo of 339 slaves 
                was brought to Christiansted. Slave shipwrecks in U.S. 
                waters are rare. The monument contains remnants of 
                these wrecks. Other wrecks may also exist in the 
                monument.

[[Page 7336]]

                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 
                Buck Island Reef 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 Buck Island 
                Reef National Monument, for the purpose of care, 
                management, and protection of the objects of historic 
                and 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 
                ``Buck Island Reef National Monument Boundary 
                Enlargement'' attached to and forming a part of this 
                proclamation. The Federal land and interests in land 
                reserved consist of approximately 18,135 marine 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.

                For the purpose of protecting the objects identified 
                above, the Secretary shall prohibit all boat anchoring, 
                provided that the Secretary may permit exceptions for 
                emergency or authorized administrative purposes, and 
                may issue permits for anchoring in deep sand bottom 
                areas, to the extent that it is consistent with the 
                protection of the objects.

                For the purposes of protecting the objects identified 
                above, the Secretary shall prohibit all extractive 
                uses. This prohibition supersedes the limited 
                authorization for extractive uses included in 
                Proclamation 3443 of December 28, 1961.

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

                The Secretary of the Interior shall manage the monument 
                through the National Park Service, pursuant to 
                applicable legal authorities, to implement the purposes 
                of this proclamation. The National Park Service will 
                manage the monument in a manner consistent with 
                international law.

                The Secretary of the Interior shall prepare a 
                management plan, including the management of vessels in 
                the monument, within 2 years that will address any 
                further specific actions necessary to protect the 
                objects identified above.

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

                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.

[[Page 7337]]

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

                    (Presidential Sig.)

Billing code 3195-01-P


[[Page 7338]]

[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TD22JA01.178


[FR Doc. 01-2097 Filed 1-19-01; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3195-01-C