[United States Statutes at Large, Volume 128, 113th Congress, 2nd Session]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

 
PROCLAMATION 9089--MAR. 11, 2014

Proclamation 9089 of March 11, 2014

Boundary Enlargement of the California Coastal National Monument

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Through Proclamation 7264 of January 11, 2000, President Clinton
established the California Coastal National Monument (monument) to
protect the biological treasures situated offshore on thousands of
unappropriated or unreserved islands, rocks, exposed reefs, and
pinnacles owned or controlled by the Government of the United States
within 12 nautical miles of the shoreline of the State of California.
These dramatic features contribute to California's awe-inspiring coastal
scenery and provide havens for significant populations of seabirds and
marine

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mammals. The monument protects feeding and nesting habitat for an
estimated 200,000 breeding seabirds. Development on the mainland has
forced seabirds that once fed and nested in the shoreline ecosystem to
retreat to these protected areas. The monument also protects forage and
breeding habitat for California sea lions, southern sea otters, and
northern (Steller) sea lions.
As President Clinton noted in his proclamation, although these offshore
habitats may appear distinct from nearby shoreline habitats, they are
dependent upon each other, with vital and dynamic exchange of nutrients
and organisms being essential to maintaining their healthy ecosystems.
The addition of the Point Arena-Stornetta Public Lands as the first
shoreline unit of the monument would expand the monument to include
coastal bluffs and shelves, tide pools, onshore dunes, coastal prairies,
riverbanks, and the mouth and estuary of the Garcia River. The expanded
monument would present exemplary opportunities for geologists,
archeologists, historians, and biologists to use the historic and
scientific objects in these lands to further illuminate the evolving
relationship between California's abundant coastal resources and its
human inhabitants.
The Point Arena-Stornetta Public Lands, in Mendocino County, California,
encompass a wind-swept landscape of dramatic coastal beauty and
significant scientific importance. Like the monument's striking offshore
rocks and islands, these lands have been shaped by powerful geologic
forces. An uplifted coastal terrace that underlies much of the area is
part of the Gualala Block, a piece of continental crust that was
captured by the San Andreas Fault and is now joined to the Pacific
Plate. The striking bluffs that form the outer edge of the terrace are
pierced in a few locations by blowholes--openings near the bluff's edge
through which rising tides force gusts of salt-laced air and occasional
geysers of ocean water. Near some of the blowholes, a creek flows over
the edge of the cliff, sending a delicate sheet of water into the cold
waves below.
Some of California's most spectacular wildlife make use of this striking
landscape and its diverse vegetation communities. The Point Arena-
Stornetta Public Lands provide important habitat for harbor seals,
Steller sea lions, and an occasional elephant seal, which visitors can
catch sight of from the vantage of the terrace's western bluffs. The
terrace itself supports thriving native bunchgrass prairie and coastal
scrub communities. Generally low-lying vegetation is punctuated by a
rare bishop pine forest and the southernmost natural example of a shore
pine forest.
The bunchgrass prairie is home to the endemic Behren's silverspot
butterfly, which is dependent on the presence of the dog violet. The
rare and endemic Point Arena mountain beaver makes use of the diverse
habitats in these lands. A wide array of rare bird species also uses the
area's interconnected habitats, including the black oystercatcher, the
little willow flycatcher, the yellow warbler, and the black-crowned
night heron. Squadrons of brown pelicans are a frequent sight, gliding
low over the powerful waves, while snowy plovers are sometimes seen
foraging along the surf line.
Water plays an essential role in sustaining and connecting plant and
animal life in this rugged landscape. At the northern end of these
lands, the Garcia River ends its 44-mile journey to the Pacific. The es

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tuary formed by the meeting of these waters provides both a nursery for
juvenile fish and a transition zone for a variety of far-roaming
salmonids, including central California coast coho salmon, the
California coastal Chinook salmon, and northern California steelhead.
These anadromous species depend on the Garcia River estuary and its flow
through the Point Arena-Stornetta Public Lands to access their upstream
spawning habitat. Across the river, powerful winds sculpt an extensive
dune system, its shifting sands pocketed with brackish, semi-permanent
ponds. Hathaway Creek, which feeds into the Garcia River, also passes
through the public lands and provides important riparian habitat. The
area's salt marshes, brackish pools, and freshwater springs and seeps
support an array of plant and animal species, including Humboldt Bay
owl's clover, as well as the rare California red-legged frog.
For thousands of years, people have been drawn to this area's varied and
plentiful natural resources. The human history of the Point Arena-
Stornetta Public Lands, which lie within the ancestral lands of the
Central Pomo Indians, is written across the landscape. Numerous cultural
and archeological sites, including middens and lithic scatters, as well
as a few chert and obsidian tools, have been found on these lands. Sites
and artifacts on these lands provide evidence of the many generations of
people who gathered the abundant abalone, fish, mussels, tubers, and
seeds and yield data about prehistoric lifeways and settlements. Among
the oldest artifacts found in the area is obsidian debitage material
dated to over 4,000 years ago. Additionally, these lands contain
reminders of the 19th century industries that played a formative role in
the development of Point Arena and the greater northern California
coastal region.
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 Point Arena-Stornetta Public
Lands;
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 part of the California Coastal National 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 within the boundaries described on the
accompanying map, which is attached hereto and forms a part of this
proclamation. Together, these objects and lands shall be known as the
``Point Arena-Stornetta Unit'' of the monument (unit). The reserved
Federal lands and interests in lands consist of approximately 1,665
acres, which is the smallest area compatible with the proper care and
management of the objects to be protected.

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All Federal lands and interests in lands within the boundaries of the
unit are hereby appropriated and withdrawn from all forms of entry,
location, selection, sale, leasing, or other disposition under the
public 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.
The establishment of the unit is subject to valid existing rights. Lands
and interests in lands within the unit boundaries not owned or
controlled by the Government of the United States shall be reserved as a
part of the unit upon acquisition of ownership or control by the United
States.
The Secretary of the Interior shall manage the unit through the Bureau
of Land Management as part of the National Landscape Conservation
System, pursuant to applicable legal authorities, to protect the objects
identified above.
Except for emergency or authorized administrative purposes, motorized
vehicle use in the unit shall be permitted only on designated roads, and
non-motorized mechanized vehicle use shall be permitted only on roads
and trails designated for their use.
Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to enlarge or diminish the
rights of any Indian tribe.
Nothing in this proclamation shall enlarge or diminish the jurisdiction
or authority of the State of California, including its jurisdiction and
authority with respect to fish and wildlife management.
Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to revoke any existing
withdrawal, reservation, or appropriation; however, the 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 eleventh day of
March, in the year of our Lord two thousand fourteen, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-
eighth.
BARACK OBAMA


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