[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 41 (Thursday, March 2, 2006)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 10793-10796]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-2023]



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Part III





The President





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Proclamation 7984--Establishment of the African Burial Ground National 
Monument
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                         Presidential Documents 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 41 / Thursday, March 2, 2006 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 10793]]

                Proclamation 7984 of February 27, 2006

                
Establishment of the African Burial Ground 
                National Monument

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                In Lower Manhattan, at the corners of Duane and Elk 
                Streets, lies an undeveloped parcel of approximately 
                15,000 square feet that constitutes a remaining portion 
                of New York City's early African Burial Ground. The 
                site is part of an approximately 7-acre National 
                Historic Landmark established on April 19, 1993. From 
                the 1690s to the 1790s, the African Burial Ground 
                served as the final resting place of enslaved and free 
                Africans in New York City, New York. It contains the 
                remains of those interred, as well as the archeological 
                resources and artifacts associated with their burials. 
                Prior to the date of this proclamation, the site was 
                administered by the General Services Administration 
                (GSA), and it will be the location of a memorial, to be 
                constructed soon according to a design selected on 
                April 29, 2005, through a competition conducted by the 
                GSA with the participation of the National Park Service 
                (NPS) and other interested parties.

                Whereas the African Burial Ground National Monument 
                will promote understanding of related resources, 
                encourage continuing research, and present interpretive 
                opportunities and programs for visitors to better 
                understand and honor the culture and vital 
                contributions of generations of Africans and Americans 
                of African descent to our Nation;

                Whereas section 2 of the Act of June 8, 1906 (34 Stat. 
                225, 16 U.S.C. 431) (the ``Antiquities Act'') 
                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 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 would be in the public interest to preserve 
                the portion of the African Burial Ground at the corner 
                of Duane and Elk Streets in New York City, and certain 
                lands as necessary for the care and management of the 
                historic and scientific objects therein, as the African 
                Burial Ground National Monument;

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, 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 African Burial Ground 
                National Monument for the purpose of protecting the 
                objects described above, all lands and interests in 
                lands owned or controlled by the Government of the 
                United States with the boundaries described on the 
                accompanying land description, which is attached and 
                forms a part of this proclamation. The Federal land and 
                interests in land reserved consist of approximately 
                15,000 square feet, which is the smallest area 
                compatible with the proper care and management of the 
                objects to be protected.

[[Page 10794]]

                All Federal lands and interests of 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 mining laws, and 
                from disposition under all laws relating to mineral and 
                geothermal leasing.

                The Secretary of the Interior (Secretary), acting 
                through the NPS, shall administer the national monument 
                consistent with the purposes and provisions of this 
                proclamation and applicable laws and regulations 
                governing management of units of the national park 
                system. For the purposes of preserving, interpreting, 
                and enhancing public understanding and appreciation of 
                the national monument and its meaning to society, the 
                Secretary, acting through the NPS, shall develop an 
                interagency agreement with the Administrator of General 
                Services and, within 3 years of the date of this 
                proclamation, prepare a management plan for the 
                national monument. The management plan shall, among 
                other provisions, set forth the desired relationship of 
                the national monument to other related resources, 
                programs, and organizations in New York City and other 
                locations, provide for maximum public involvement in 
                its development, and identify steps to be taken to 
                provide interpretive opportunities for the entirety of 
                the National Historic Landmark and related sites in New 
                York City. Further, to the extent authorized by law, 
                the Secretary, acting through the NPS, shall promulgate 
                any additional regulations needed for the proper care 
                and management of the objects identified above.

                The establishment 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 
                lands thereof.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                twenty-seventh day of February, in the year of our Lord 
                two thousand six, and of the Independence of the United 
                States of America the two hundred and thirtieth.

                    (Presidential Sig.)B

Billing code 3195-01-P



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                [FR Doc. 06-2023 Filed 3-1-06; 8:45 am]

Billing code 3195-01-C