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

 
PROCLAMATION 9194--OCT. 10, 2014

Proclamation 9194 of October 10, 2014

Establishment of the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

Known as the crown to the Valley of Angels, the peaks of the San Gabriel
Mountains frame the Los Angeles skyline. Over 15 million people live
within 90 minutes of this island of green, which provides 70 percent of
the open space for Angelenos and 30 percent of their drinking water.
Millions recreate and rejuvenate in the San Gabriels each year, seeking
out their cool streams and canyons during the hot summer months, their
snowcapped mountains in the winter, and their trail system and historic
sites throughout the year.
The San Gabriels are some of the steepest and most rugged mountains in
the United States. Situated adjacent to the mighty San Andreas Fault,
the mountains are geologically active, migrating northwest at an average
of 2 inches each year. Deep canyons, many with precious perennial
streams, score the mountain peaks--north toward the arid Mojave Desert
and south to the temperate San Gabriel Valley.
The rich cultural history of these mountains echoes their striking
geologic features and ecological diversity. Cultural resources represent
successive layers of history, including that of Native Americans,
Spanish missionaries and colonialists, Mexican rancheros, and Euro-
American settlers and prospectors. Native American history runs deep, at
least 8,000 years, exemplified by the Aliso-Arrastre Special Interest
Area known for its heritage resource values, including several rock art
and cupules features, the concentration of which is unique to southern
California. Due to urban development and natural processes, this area
also contains the best preserved example of a Gabrielino pictograph that
characterizes the California Tradition of rock painting.
Early European explorers' use of the area consisted mainly of early
explorers traveling through the area. Over time, land grants, Spanish
missions, and townsites surrounded the mountains, relying heavily on
them for water, building supplies, and game.
By the 1840s, gold prospectors poured into the mountains. Large placer
and lode mining operations were established in the San Gabriels, with
mixed success. The historic mining town of Eldoradoville, located along
the East Fork of the San Gabriel River, had at its peak in 1861 a
population of over 500 miners, with general stores, saloons, and dance
halls along with numerous mining camps of tents, wooden shacks, and
stone cabins along the river.
In the early 20th century, responding to the burgeoning interest of
urban dwellers in backcountry hiking and weekend rambling, a number of
trails, lodges, and camps--many of which were accessible only

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by horseback or on foot--were constructed throughout the mountains.
Remnants of these historic resorts, which attracted local residents and
Hollywood stars alike, can still be seen and are important aspects of
the region's social and cultural history.
Enthusiasm for recreating in the mountains continues today. The San
Gabriels offer hundreds of miles of hiking, motorized, and equestrian
trails, including several National Recreational Trails and 87 miles of
the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail. In the footprint of the resorts
of the Great Hiking Era, many visitors partake of Forest Service
campgrounds built on the foundations of early 20th-century lodges and
resorts. In a region with limited open space, the mountains are the
backyard for many highly urbanized and culturally diverse populations
within Los Angeles, underscoring the need for strong partnerships
between this urban forest and neighboring communities.
The mountains have hosted world-class scientists, studying the terra
firma at their feet as well as the distant galactic stars. Astronomer
Edwin Hubble performed critical calculations from his work at the Mt.
Wilson Observatory, including his discovery that some nebulae were
actually galaxies outside our own Milky Way. Assisted by Milton Humason,
he also discovered the presence of the astronomical phenomenon of
redshift that proved the universe is expanding. Also on Mt. Wilson,
Albert Michelson, America's first Nobel Prize winner in a science field,
conducted an experiment that provided the first modern and truly
accurate measurement of the speed of light. Closer to earth, the San
Dimas Experimental Forest, established in 1933 as a hydrologic
laboratory, continues the study of some of our earliest and most
comprehensively monitored research watersheds, providing crucial
scientific insights.
Although proximate to one of America's most urban areas, the region has
untrammeled wilderness lands of the highest quality, including four
designated wilderness areas: San Gabriel, Sheep Mountain, Pleasant View
Ridge, and Magic Mountain. These lands provide invaluable backcountry
opportunities for the rapidly expanding nearby communities and also
provide habitat for iconic species including the endangered California
condor and least Bells' vireo, and the Forest Service Sensitive Nelson's
bighorn sheep, bald eagle, and California spotted owl. Inventoried
roadless areas and lands recommended for designation as Wilderness also
provide important habitat, including a connectivity corridor important
for wide ranging species, such as the mountain lion.
The importance of the San Gabriels' watershed values was recognized
early. As early as the late 1800s, local communities petitioned to
protect the mountains for their watershed values. As a result, President
Benjamin Harrison established the San Gabriel Timberland Reserve in
1892, the precursor to the Angeles National Forest.
Reflecting the needs of the nearby population centers, the San Gabriels
host an array of flood control and water storage, delivery, and
diversion infrastructure, including six large retention dams as well as
numerous telecommunications and utility towers.
The San Gabriels' rivers not only provide drinking water but are also
areas of high ecological significance supporting rare populations of
native fish, including the threatened Santa Ana sucker. The San Gabriel
River supports rare arroyo chub and Santa Ana speckled dace, a spe

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cies found only in the Los Angeles Basin. Little Rock Creek tumbles down
from the northern escarpment to the Mojave Desert below and supports
important populations of the endangered mountain yellow-legged frog and
arroyo toad, as well as the threatened California red-legged frog. On
the slopes of Mt. San Antonio, San Antonio Creek rushes through an
alpine canyon studded with stalwart bigcone Douglas fir, and the
magnificent 75-foot San Antonio Falls draw thousands of visitors every
year.
In addition to rivers, the San Gabriels contain two scenic lakes, both
formed by the area's remarkable geologic forces. The alpine Crystal
Lake, found high in the mountains, was formed from one of the largest
landslides on record in southern California. Jackson Lake is a natural
sag pond, a type of pond formed between the strands of an active fault
line--in this case, the San Andreas.
Climatic contrasts in the San Gabriels range from the northern slope
desert region, home to Joshua trees and pinyon pines, to high-elevation
white fir and a notable stand of 1,000-year-old limber pines. Vegetation
communities, including chaparral and oak woodland, represent a portion
of the rare Mediterranean ecosystem found in only 3 percent of the
world. Mediterranean climate zones have high numbers of species for
their area.
The San Gabriels also provide suitable habitat for 52 Forest Service
Sensitive Plants and as many as 300 California-endemic species,
including Pierson's lupine and San Gabriel bedstraw, that occur only in
the San Gabriel range.
The mountains harbor several of California's signature natural
vegetation communities, including the drought-tolerant and fire-adapted
chaparral shrubland, which is the dominant community and includes scrub
oaks, chamise, manzanita, wild lilac, and western mountain-mahogany.
Mixed conifer forest is an associated vegetation community comprising
Jeffrey pine, sugar pine, white fir, and riparian woodlands including
white alder, sycamore, and willow. These communities provide habitat for
numerous native wildlife and insect species, including agriculturally
important pollinators, the San Gabriel Mountains slender salamander, San
Bernardino Mountain kingsnake, song sparrow, Peregrine falcon, mule
deer, and Pallid bat.
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 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; and
WHEREAS it is in the public interest to preserve and protect the objects
of scientific and historic interest at the San Gabriel Mountains;
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 Gabriel Mountains Na

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tional Monument (monument) and, for the purpose of preserving 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 entitled, ``San Gabriel
Mountains National Monument'' and the accompanying legal description,
which are attached to and form a part of this proclamation.
These reserved Federal lands and interests in lands encompass
approximately 346,177 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 are hereby appropriated and withdrawn from all forms of entry,
location, selection, sale, leasing, or other disposition under the
public land or other Federal laws, including 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, or disposition of materials under
the Materials Act of 1947 in a manner that is consistent with the proper
care and management of the objects protected by this proclamation.
The establishment of this monument is subject to valid existing rights.
Lands and interests in lands within the monument's boundaries not owned
or controlled by the United States shall be reserved as part of the
monument upon acquisition of ownership or control by the United States.
To the extent allowed by applicable law, the Secretaries of Agriculture
and the Interior shall manage valid Federal mineral rights existing
within the monument as of the date of this proclamation in a manner
consistent with the proper care and management of the objects protected
by this proclamation.
Nothing in this proclamation shall be construed to alter the valid
existing water rights of any party, including the United States.
Nothing in this proclamation shall be construed to interfere with the
operation or maintenance, nor with the replacement or modification
within the existing authorization boundary, of existing water resource,
flood control, utility, pipeline, or telecommunications facilities that
are located within the monument, subject to the Secretary of
Agriculture's special uses authorities and other applicable laws.
Existing water resource, flood control, utility, pipeline, or
telecommunications facilities located within the monument may be
expanded, and new facilities may be constructed within the monument, to
the extent consistent with the proper care and management of the objects
protected by this proclamation, subject to the Secretary of
Agriculture's special uses authorities and other applicable law.
The Secretary of Agriculture (Secretary) shall manage the monument
through the Forest Service, pursuant to applicable legal authorities,
consistent with the purposes and provisions of this proclamation. The
Secretary shall prepare, within 3 years of the date of this proclamation
and in consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, a management
plan for the monument and shall promulgate such regulations for its
management as deemed appropriate. The Secretary shall provide for
maximum public involvement in the development of that plan, including,
but not limited to, consultation with tribal, State, and local
government, as well as community environmental conservation, health, and
justice organizations. The plan shall provide for protection and inter

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pretation of the scientific and historic objects identified above and
for continued public access to those objects, consistent with their
protection. To the maximum extent permitted by other applicable law and
consistent with the purposes of the monument, the plan shall protect and
preserve Indian sacred sites, as defined in section 1(b) of Executive
Order 13007 of May 24, 1996, and access by Indian tribal members for
traditional cultural, spiritual, and tree and forest product-, food-,
and medicine-gathering purposes.
Nothing in this proclamation shall be construed to enlarge or diminish
the rights of any Indian tribe as defined in section 1(b) of Executive
Order 13007.
The Secretary shall prepare a transportation plan that specifies and
implements such actions necessary to protect the objects identified in
this proclamation, including road closures and travel restrictions. For
the purpose of protecting the objects identified above, except for
emergency or authorized administrative purposes, the Secretary shall
limit all motor vehicle use to designated roads, trails, and, in the
Secretary's discretion, those authorized off-highway vehicular use areas
existing as of the date of this proclamation.
The Secretary shall, in developing any management plans and any
management rules and regulations governing the monument, consult with
the Secretary of the Interior. The final decision to issue any
management plans and any management rules and regulations rests with the
Secretary of Agriculture. Management plans or rules and regulations
developed by the Secretary of the Interior governing uses within
national parks or other national monuments administered by the Secretary
of the Interior shall not apply within the monument.
Nothing in this proclamation shall be construed to enlarge or diminish
the jurisdiction of the State of California with respect to fish and
wildlife management.
Laws, regulations, and policies followed by the United States Forest
Service in issuing and administering grazing permits or leases on all
lands under its jurisdiction shall continue to apply with regard to the
lands in the monument in a manner consistent with the proper care and
management of the objects protected by this proclamation.
Nothing in this proclamation shall be construed to alter the authority
or responsibility of any party with respect to emergency response
activities within the monument, including wildland fire response. The
Secretary may carry out vegetative management treatments within the
monument, except that timber harvest and prescribed fire may only be
used when the Secretary determines it appropriate to address the risk of
wildfire, insect infestation, or disease that would endanger the objects
identified above or imperil public safety.
Recognizing the proximity of the monument to Class B airspace and that a
military training route is over the monument, nothing in this
proclamation shall be deemed to restrict general aviation, commercial,
or military aircraft operations, nor the designation of new units of
special use airspace or the establishment of military flight training
routes, over the monument.
Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to revoke any existing
withdrawal, reservation, or appropriation; however, the monument shall
be the dominant reservation.

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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 tenth day of
October, in the year of our Lord two thousand fourteen, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-
ninth.
BARACK OBAMA


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