[United States Statutes at Large, Volume 127, 113th Congress, 1st Session]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

 

PROCLAMATION 8947--MAR. 25, 2013

Proclamation 8947 of March 25, 2013

Establishment of the San Juan Islands National Monument
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
Within Washington State's Puget Sound lies an archipelago of over 450
islands, rocks, and pinnacles known as the San Juan Islands. These
islands form an unmatched landscape of contrasts, where forests seem to
spring from gray rock and distant, snow-capped peaks provide the
backdrop for sandy beaches. Numerous wildlife species can be found here,
thriving in the diverse habitats supported by the islands. The presence
of archeological sites, historic lighthouses, and a few tight-knit
communities testifies that humans have navigated this rugged landscape
for thousands of years. These lands are a refuge of scientific and
historic treasures and a classroom for generations of Americans.
The islands are part of the traditional territories of the Coast Salish
people. Native people first used the area near the end of the last
glacial period, about 12,000 years ago. However, permanent settlements
were relatively uncommon until the last several hundred years. The Coast
Salish people often lived in villages of wooden-plank houses and used
numerous smaller sites for fishing and harvesting shellfish. In addition
to collecting edible plants, and hunting various birds and mammals,
native people used fire to maintain meadows of the nutritionally rich
great camas. Archaeological remains of the villages, camps, and
processing sites are located throughout these lands, including shell
middens, reef net locations, and burial sites. Wood-working tools, such
as antler wedges, along with bone barbs used for fishing hooks and
projectile points, are also found on the islands. Scientists working in
the San Juan Islands have uncovered a unique array of fossils and other
evidence of long-vanished species. Ancient bison skeletons (10,000-
12,000 years old) have been found in several areas, indicating that
these islands were an historic mammal dispersal corridor. Butcher marks
on some of these bones suggest that the earliest human inhabitants
hunted these large animals.
The first Europeans explored the narrows of the San Juan Islands in the
late 18th century, and many of their names for the islands are still in
use. These early explorers led the way for 19th century European and
American traders and trappers. By 1852, American settlers had
established homesteads on the San Juan Islands, some of which remain
today. In the late 19th century, the Federal Government built several
structures to aid in maritime navigation. Two light stations and their
associated buildings are located on lands administered by the Bureau of
Land Management (BLM): Patos Island Light Station (National Register of
Historic Places, 1977) and Turn Point Light Station (Washington State
Register of Historic Places, 1978).
The lands on Patos Island, Stuart Island, Lopez Island, and neighboring
islands constitute some of the most scientifically interesting lands in
the San Juan Islands. These lands contain a dramatic and unusual
diversity of habitats, with forests, woodlands, grasslands, and wetlands
intermixed with rocky balds, bluffs, inter-tidal areas, and sandy
beaches. The stands of forests and open woodlands, some of which are
sev-


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eral hundred years old, include a majestic assemblage of trees, such
as Douglas fir, red cedar, western hemlock, Oregon maple, Garry oak, and
Pacific madrone. The fire-dependent grasslands, which are also
susceptible to invasive species, are home to chick lupine, historically
significant great camas, brittle cactus, and the threatened golden
paintbrush. Rocky balds and bluffs are home to over 200 species of moss
that are extremely sensitive to disturbance and trampling. In an area
with limited fresh water, two wetlands on Lopez Island and one on Patos
Island are the most significant freshwater habitats in the San Juan
Islands.
The diversity of habitats in the San Juan Islands is critical to
supporting an equally varied collection of wildlife. Marine mammals,
including orcas, seals, and porpoises, attract a regular stream of
wildlife watchers. Native, terrestrial mammals include black-tail deer,
river otter, mink, several bats, and the Shaw Island vole. Raptors, such
as bald eagles and peregrine falcons, are commonly observed soaring
above the islands. Varied seabirds and terrestrial birds can also be
found here, including the threatened marbled murrelet and the recently
reintroduced western bluebird. The island marble butterfly, once thought
to be extinct, is currently limited to a small population in the San
Juan Islands.
The protection of these lands in the San Juan Islands will maintain
their historical and cultural significance and enhance their unique and
varied natural and scientific resources, for the benefit of all
Americans.
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 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 is in the public interest to preserve the objects of
scientific and historic interest on the lands of the San Juan Islands;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of
America, by the authority vested in me by section 2 of the Antiquities
Act, hereby proclaim the objects identified above that are situated upon
lands and interests in lands owned or controlled by the Government of
the United States to be the San Juan Islands National Monument
(monument), and, for the purpose of protecting those objects, reserve as
a part thereof all lands and interests in lands owned or controlled by
the Government of the United States and administered by the Department
of the Interior through the BLM, including all unappropriated or
unreserved islands, rocks, exposed reefs, and pinnacles above mean high
tide, within the boundaries described on the accompanying map, which is
attached to and forms a part of this proclamation. These reserved
Federal lands and interests in lands encompass approximately 970 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 the
monument administered by the Department of the Interior through the BLM
are hereby appropriated and withdrawn from all forms of entry, location,
selection, sale, leasing, or other disposition under the public



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land laws, including 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 this proclamation.
The establishment of the monument is subject to valid existing rights.
Lands and interests in lands within the monument boundaries not owned or
controlled by the Government of the United States shall be reserved as a
part of the monument upon acquisition of ownership or control by the
Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) on behalf of the United States.
The Secretary shall manage the monument through the BLM as a unit of the
National Landscape Conservation System, pursuant to applicable legal
authorities, to implement the purposes of this proclamation, except that
if the Secretary hereafter acquires on behalf of the United States
ownership or control of any lands or interests in lands within the
monument boundaries not owned or controlled by the United States, the
Secretary shall determine whether such lands and interests in lands will
be administered by the BLM as a unit of the National Landscape
Conservation System or by another component of the Department of the
Interior, consistent with applicable legal authorities.
For purposes of protecting and restoring the objects identified above,
the Secretary, through the BLM, shall prepare and maintain a management
plan for the monument and shall establish an advisory committee under
the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) to provide
information and advice regarding the development of such plan.
Except for emergency, Federal law enforcement, or authorized
administrative purposes, motorized vehicle use in the monument shall be
permitted only on designated roads, and non-motorized mechanized vehicle
use in the monument shall be permitted only on designated roads and
trails.
Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to enlarge or diminish the
rights of any Indian tribe. The Secretary shall, in consultation with
Indian tribes, ensure the protection of religious and cultural sites in
the monument and provide access to the sites by members of Indian tribes
for traditional cultural and customary uses, consistent with the
American Indian Religious Freedom Act (42 U.S.C. 1996) and Executive
Order 13007 of May 24, 1996 (Indian Sacred Sites).
Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to enlarge or diminish the
jurisdiction or authority of the State of Washington or the United
States over submerged or other lands within the territorial waters off
the coast of Washington.
Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to enlarge or diminish the
jurisdiction of the State of Washington with respect to fish and
wildlife management.
Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to limit the authority of
the Secretary of Homeland Security to engage in search and rescue
operations, or to use Patos Island Light Station, Turn Point Light
Station, or other aids to navigation for navigational or national
security purposes.



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Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to revoke any existing
withdrawal, reservation, or appropriation; however, the monument shall
be the dominant reservation.
Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to restrict safe and
efficient aircraft operations, including activities and exercises of the
Armed Forces and the United States Coast Guard, in the vicinity of the
monument.
Warning is hereby given to all unauthorized persons not to appropriate,
injure, destroy, or remove any feature of the monument and not to locate
or settle upon any of the lands thereof.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-fifth day of
March, in the year of our Lord two thousand thirteen, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-
seventh.
BARACK OBAMA



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