[United States Statutes at Large, Volume 131, 115th Congress, 1st Session]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

 
Proclamation 9563 of January 12, 2017

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 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. Presidential
Proclamation 9089, issued on March 11, 2014, expanded the monument to
include the Point Arena-Stornetta Public Lands, a landscape of coastal
bluffs and shelves, tide pools, onshore dunes, coastal prairies, and
riverbanks, and the mouth and estuary of the Garcia River. In addition
to providing vital habitat for wildlife, these coastal lands were
critical for the native peoples who first lived along the California
Coast, and they continue to be treasured by modern generations.
Six other spectacular areas along the California Coast contain
significant scientific or historic resources that are closely tied to
the values of the monument. Like the protections afforded by prior
proclamations, protection of Trinidad Head, Waluplh-Lighthouse Ranch,
Lost Coast Headlands, Cotoni-Coast Dairies, Piedras Blancas, and Orange
County Rocks and Islands would protect and preserve objects of historic
or scientific interest on the California Coast.

Trinidad Head

About 30 miles north of Eureka lies the majestic and culturally
important promontory known as Trinidad Head. The tip of Trinidad Head
encompasses several prominent historic sites along with the rocky ledges
that provide their setting, such as the Trinidad Head Light Station,
which first operated in 1871 and is still active today. Accompanied by a
small wooden bell house, it sits atop sheer cliffs overlooking crashing
waves and rugged sea stacks. The importance of this location predated
its first use as a lighthouse. Nearly 100 years earlier, on June 9,
1775, representatives of the local Yurok community first made contact
with two Spanish ships there. A granite cross installed in 1913 sits in
a clearing above the lighthouse, commemorating the spot where the
Spanish erected a wooden cross two days later to claim the area for King
Charles III. Today, the area is culturally and spiritually significant
to the Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Rancheria, the
Yurok Tribe, and the Tsurai Ancestral Society.
Coastal bluff scrub vegetation, including coyote brush, California wax
myrtle, salal, blue blossom, ocean spray, and evergreen huckleberry,
surrounds these historic features. Scattered stands of Sitka spruce,
Douglas fir, and red alder stand out among these native shrubs and
herbs. Coast Indian paintbrush grows in rocky outcroppings near the bell
house, adding splashes of crimson to the landscape. Visitors to Trinidad
Head enjoy observing the Trinidad seabird colony, which makes its home
on the rocks and islands off the coast of Trinidad Head

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and contains over 75,000 birds, including several species of cormorant,
the common murre, and occasionally tufted puffins.

Waluplh-Lighthouse Ranch

Perched on the edge of Table Bluff, 12 miles south of Eureka, Waluplh-
Lighthouse Ranch has spectacular panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean,
Eel River Delta, and the south spit of Humboldt Bay. In addition to
outstanding scenery, visitors to Waluplh-Lighthouse Ranch can view
migratory raptors, songbirds, and the endangered marbled murrelet.
Waluplh-Lighthouse Ranch is part of the ancestral home and current
cultural traditions of the Wiyot Tribe, who gave it the name Waluplh.
With its expansive views, the area served as a lookout point for the
Tribe, as well as a crossroads for trails connecting inland areas with
Humboldt Bay to the north and the bottomlands surrounding the mouth of
the Eel River to the south. Beginning in the late 1800s, Waluplh-
Lighthouse Ranch was developed as a Coast Guard facility, and during
World War II, it served as a coastal lookout post and the base for a
mounted beach patrol. There are no longer any buildings on the property,
so visitors now enjoy its panoramic views surrounded by open space.

Lost Coast Headlands

Thirteen miles south of Waluplh-Lighthouse Ranch, the Lost Coast
Headlands present a majestic coastline, encompassing rolling hills and
dramatically eroding bluffs, punctuated by freshwater creeks, ponds, and
pockets of forests. Underlying the Lost Coast Headlands are layers of
highly erodible sedimentary rock known as the Wildcat Group. This
geology has weathered over the years, leading to deeply carved and
incised bluffs along the beach made up of multi-hued layers of gray
clay, golden sandstone, and brown siltstone. The eroding of the bluffs
over time exposes fossils of scallops, clams, and snails, providing a
glimpse of the marine fauna that lived in the area during the
Pleistocene Epoch 2.6 million to 11,700 years ago.
Coastal scrub vegetation and open grasslands blanket the area's rolling
hills. Coyote brush and California blackberry dominate, and in the
grasslands, small patches of native Pacific reed grass meadow remain.
Pockets of Douglas fir, Sitka spruce, and grand fir shadow the eroded
draws. These diverse habitats support an array of wildlife species,
including black-tailed deer, bobcat, brush rabbit, and Douglas squirrel.
While more elusive, gray fox, coyote, and mountain lion also pass
through the area, and a careful observer may notice signs of their
presence. A variety of small birds dart about its grasslands and scrub,
while raptors such as American kestrels, northern harriers, peregrine
falcons, and Cooper's hawks scan for prey overhead. Quiet visitors may
hear hairy woodpeckers in the forested draws. Foraging shorebirds and
gulls, along with the occasional harbor seal, can be observed on the
narrow beaches.

Buffered by red alder and willow, Guthrie and Fleener creeks wind their
way through the Lost Coast Headlands on their way to the sea. Both
perennial streams provide habitat for three-spined stickleback, a small
native fish. Sculpin, Pacific lamprey, and the threatened Northern
California steelhead have also been observed in Guthrie Creek, and

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both creeks are potential habitat for the threatened coho salmon. During
the summer, the mouth of Guthrie Creek widens into a lagoon that can
provide shelter for estuary-dependent fish and invertebrates. The area
also features three small, freshwater ponds that provide habitat for the
threatened California red-legged frog and a variety of waterfowl,
including green-winged teals.
While few signs of it remain, the northernmost point of the Lost Coast
Headlands was once the site of the Centerville Beach Naval Facility,
established in 1958 to monitor Soviet submarines during the Cold War.
For more than 100 years, several families who settled nearby grazed
livestock in the area.

Cotoni-Coast Dairies

Near Davenport in Santa Cruz County, Cotoni-Coast Dairies extends from
the steep slopes of the Santa Cruz Mountains to the marine coastal
terraces overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Sitting atop the soft Santa Cruz
Mudstone Formation and the hard, silica-rich Monterey Formation, the
area's bedrock supports a diversity of soils and vegetation that have
sustained wildlife and people alike for millennia.
Dating back at least 10,000 years, an ancestral group known to
archaeologists as the Costanoan or Coastal People (also called the
Ohlone) lived in this region, and the Cotoni, a tribelet of this group,
lived in the Cotoni-Coast Dairies area. Lithic scatter sites and shell
middens demonstrate that inhabitants moved between the coastal
ecological zones and upland environments, making use of the landscape's
diverse resources. Europeans first made contact with the Cotoni in the
1600s and 1700s. Most of the Costanoan people were converted to
Christianity, many forcibly, during California's Mission period in the
late 1700s and 1800s, and by the early 1900s, much of the ancient
cultural heritage of the Coastal People was left only to memory.
Six perennial streams form the heart of Cotoni-Coast Dairies' ecosystem,
flowing from the coastal mountains down to the Pacific Ocean. Molino
Creek, Ferrari Creek, San Vicente Creek, Liddell Creek, Yellow Bank
Creek, and Laguna Creek have each carved steep canyons on their path to
the sea. Vibrant riparian areas follow along the six stream corridors,
with red alder and arroyo willow forests dominating the vegetative
community. A seventh stream, Scott Creek, flows along a small portion of
the area's northern boundary. Most of the area's wetlands can be found
within these riparian corridors, though others exist in meadows and
floodplains.
Beyond supporting riparian and wetland communities, Cotoni-Coast
Dairies' waterways provide important habitat for anadromous and
freshwater fish. All of the streams are thought to have historically
supported salmon populations. Today, the threatened steelhead and coho
salmon can be found on spawning runs in San Vicente Creek, while
steelhead are also found in Liddell Creek and Laguna Creek. The
endangered tidewater goby may also be found in the tidally influenced
portion of Laguna Creek. The threatened California red-legged frog uses
many of the waterways and water sources here, along with a wide range of
other amphibians and reptiles.
Grasslands, scrublands, woodlands, and forests surround the riparian
corridors in Cotoni-Coast Dairies. Purple needlegrass and other native
species, such as California oatgrass and blue wildrye, characterize the

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coastal prairie grassland community. The intermixed wildflowers in the
community provide visitors a colorful display in the spring and early
summer. Occasional freshwater seeps amid the grasslands support sedges,
California buttercup, brown-headed rush, and other species.
California sagebrush and coyote brush scrub communities blanket the
area's bluffs and hillside slopes. Native trees, including Douglas fir
and coast live oak, dominate forests, which also include stands of
coastal trees such as madrone, California bay, Monterey pine, and
knobcone pine. Visitors are drawn to stands of coast redwood, which
thrive on the north-facing slopes in some watersheds, accompanied by
redwood sorrel, elk clover, and other understory species.
The diversity of the uplands vegetation in Cotoni-Coast Dairies supports
a rich wildlife community including a vast and varied mammalian
population. Among the many species inhabiting Cotoni-Coast Dairies are
California voles, dusky-footed woodrats, black-tailed jackrabbits, mule
deer, and gray fox. Evidence also suggests that both bobcats and
mountain lions hunt here.
Visitors to Cotoni-Coast Dairies may be able to catch a glimpse of a
variety of avian species, including black swifts, orange crowned
warblers, American kestrels, Cooper's hawks, white-tailed kites, and
peregrine falcons. In the riparian areas, one may encounter Wilson's
warblers, downy woodpeckers, and tree swallows, among others. Various
bat species, including the Townsend's big-eared bat, can be seen darting
overhead at dusk.

Piedras Blancas

Only 40 miles north of San Luis Obispo, the large white coastal rocks
for which Piedras Blancas was named have served as a landmark for
centuries to explorers and traders along the central coast of
California. Sitting at a cultural interface between Northern Chumash and
Playanos Salinan peoples, Piedras Blancas was and still remains
important to Native Americans. The human history of the area stretches
back at least 3,000 years, and archaeologists have found stone tools,
debris from tool knapping, discrete quarrying locations, and shell
midden deposits that help tell that history. Native peoples largely used
the area as a source of raw stone and for the manufacture of stone
tools.
In 1542, the Spanish explorer Juan Rodriquez Cabrillo noted the value of
this area as a maritime guidepost, and the land he sighted from his ship
was later claimed by the Spanish, followed by the Governor of Mexico,
and subsequently became part of the United States. A lighthouse built in
the 1870s still stands today, albeit without the three upper levels that
were removed after being damaged by an earthquake in 1948. The
lighthouse, with its ornate brick and cast-iron structure, is listed in
the National Register of Historic Places along with its surrounding
buildings, such as the 1906 fog-signal and oil house. Visitors to
Piedras Blancas today are treated to unmatched scenic vistas of the
rugged mountain peaks of the Santa Lucia Range and the deep blue waters
of the Pacific Ocean. Dramatic geologic features, such as the namesake
white rocks, along with the area's characteristic fog, contribute to a
dynamic visual landscape.
The bedrock in the area consists of both sedimentary and volcanic rocks
of the Franciscan Formation. This Formation represents Jurassic

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age material from the Pacific Plate that scraped off and attached to the
continental margin of North America. Atop the bedrock lie Monterey
Formation rocks, topped with marine terrace deposits. Rain percolates
through the rock surface and sub-surface and emerges dramatically as
ephemeral springs from cliff faces.
California sea lions, harbor seals, and northern elephant seals all
spend time on the shores and within the waters of this area. Visitors
may observe colonies of massive elephant seals loafing in the sun at
Piedras Blancas, where females can be seen nursing their pups, and males
occasionally battle for dominance. For decades, scientists have used
this land to conduct annual censuses of the threatened southern sea
otter and other marine mammals. From the mainland of Piedras Blancas,
visitors can also be treated to regular visits by migrating gray and
humpback whales, and occasionally blue, minke, and killer whales as
well, in addition to bottlenose dolphins.
Marine birds perched on or soaring over the Piedras Blancas rocks
include Brandt's cormorants, black oystercatchers, peregrine falcons,
and brown pelicans. In a remarkable spring display, Pacific loons can be
seen migrating offshore of Piedras Blancas by the tens of thousands. In
the rocky intertidal zone found along these shores, scientists have
documented mussels, ochre starfish, barnacles, sea anemones, and black
and red abalones.
The lighthouse's windswept onshore point is also a sanctuary for plants
and wildlife. Over 70 types of native plants, including members from the
agave, cashew, sunflower, carnation, morning glory, gourd, iris, and
poppy families, establish a foothold in the fine sand and fine sandy
loam soils. Together this diversity of vegetation can be characterized
as northern coastal bluff scrub. If visitors time their visit, they will
be treated to a dazzling array of blooms from species such as seaside
poppy, seaside daisy, coastal bush lupine, hedge nettle, dune buckwheat,
and compact cobwebby thistle. This native vegetation supports many
wildlife species, including brush rabbits, California voles, dusky-
footed woodrats, and bobcats. Black-bellied slender salamanders,
threatened red-legged frogs, western terrestrial garter snakes, and
other reptiles and amphibians thrive in the Piedras Blancas area.

Orange County Rocks and Islands

This area consists of a series of offshore rocks, pinnacles, exposed
reefs, and small islands off the Orange County coastline, where visitors
onshore are treated to dramatic crashing waves, unique geology, and an
abundance of marine-dependent wildlife. These rocks and islands lie
within the current monument boundary but were not previously reserved as
part of the monument. These offshore rocks, many in pocket coves,
contribute to the rugged beauty of the Orange County coastline and
themselves include objects of scientific and historic interest. The
features also provide important connectivity from south to north for
shore birds and sea birds, as well as for California sea lions and
harbor seals.
Cormorants, brown pelicans, gulls, and a variety of other shore birds
and sea birds can be seen roosting, resting, and feeding on the jagged
rocks and small islands. These rocks and islands are also haul-out areas
for marine mammals, including California sea lions, harbor seals, and
the occasional northern elephant seal.

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Rich in vital nutrients, this offshore zone of swirling currents
supports a variety of habitats and organisms. The tide pools around
these rocks and islands are home to a diversity of hardy intertidal
seaweeds and animal species uniquely adapted for survival within the
alternating and equally harsh environs of pounding surf and baking sun.
The protection of Trinidad Head, Waluplh-Lighthouse Ranch, Lost Coast
Headlands, Cotoni-Coast Dairies, Piedras Blancas, and Orange County
Rocks and Islands as part of the California Coastal National Monument
will preserve their cultural, prehistoric, and historic legacy and
maintain their diverse array of natural and scientific resources,
ensuring that the historic and scientific value of these areas, and
their numerous objects of historic or scientific interest, remain for
the benefit of all Americans.
WHEREAS, section 320301 of title 54, United States Code (known as 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
Federal Government 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 public lands of Trinidad Head,
Waluplh-Lighthouse Ranch, Lost Coast Headlands, Cotoni-Coast Dairies,
Piedras Blancas, and Orange County Rocks and Islands;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of
America, by the authority vested in me by section 320301 of title 54,
United States Code, hereby proclaim the objects identified above that
are situated upon lands and interests in lands owned or controlled by
the Federal Government to be part of the California Coastal National
Monument and, for the purpose of protecting those objects, reserve as
part thereof all lands and interests in lands owned or controlled by the
Federal Government within the boundaries described on the accompanying
maps, which are attached hereto and form a part of this proclamation.
The Orange County Rocks and Islands shall be managed as part of the
original offshore area of the monument, and the remainder of the lands
shall be known as the Trinidad Head, Waluplh-Lighthouse Ranch, Lost
Coast Headlands, Cotoni-Coast Dairies, and Piedras Blancas units of the
monument, respectively. These reserved Federal lands and interests in
lands encompass approximately 6,230 acres. The boundaries described on
the accompanying maps are confined to 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 described
on the accompanying maps are hereby appropriated and withdrawn from all
forms of entry, location, selection, sale, or other disposition under
the public land laws, 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.
The enlargement of the boundary is subject to valid existing rights. If
the Federal Government subsequently acquires any lands or interests

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in lands not owned or controlled by the Federal Government within the
boundaries described on the accompanying maps, such lands and interests
in lands shall be reserved as a part of the monument, and objects
identified above that are situated upon those lands and interests in
lands shall be part of the monument, upon acquisition of ownership or
control by the Federal Government.
The Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) shall manage the area being
added to the monument through the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) as a
unit of the National Landscape Conservation System, pursuant to
applicable legal authorities, to protect the objects identified above.
The Cotoni-Coast Dairies unit of the monument shall become available for
public access upon completion of a management plan by the BLM,
consistent with the care and management of the objects identified above.
Consistent with the care and management of the objects identified above,
and except for emergency or authorized administrative purposes,
motorized vehicle use in areas being added to the monument shall be
permitted only on designated roads, and non-motorized mechanized vehicle
use shall be permitted only on designated roads and trails.
Nothing in this proclamation shall be construed to interfere with the
operation or maintenance, or the replacement or modification within the
existing authorization boundary, of existing weather station,
navigation, transportation, utility, pipeline, or telecommunications
facilities located on the lands added to the monument in a manner
consistent with the care and management of the objects to be protected.
Other rights-of-way shall be authorized only if they are necessary for
the care and management of the objects to be protected.
Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to enlarge or diminish the
rights or jurisdiction of any Indian tribe. The Secretary shall, to the
maximum extent permitted by law and in consultation with Indian tribes,
ensure the protection of Indian sacred sites and traditional cultural
properties in the monument and provide access 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).
Laws, regulations, and policies followed by the BLM in issuing and
administering grazing permits or leases on lands under its jurisdiction
shall continue to apply with regard to the lands added to the monument,
consistent with the care and management of the objects identified above.
Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to enlarge or diminish the
jurisdiction of the State of California or the United States over
submerged or other lands within the territorial waters off the coast of
California, nor shall it otherwise 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 affect the rights or obligations of
any State or Federal oil or gas lessee within the territorial waters off
the California Coast.

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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.
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 the monument and not to locate
or settle upon any of the lands thereof.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twelfth day of
January, in the year of our Lord two thousand seventeen, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-
first.
BARACK OBAMA


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