[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 2 (Monday, January 17, 2000)]
[Pages 41-43]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
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Proclamation 7263--Establishment of the Agua Fria National Monument
January 11, 2000
By the President of the United States
of America
A Proclamation
The windswept, grassy mesas and formidable canyons of Agua Fria
National Monument embrace an extraordinary array of scientific and
historic resources. The ancient ruins within the monument, with their
breathtaking vistas and spectacular petroglyphs, provide a link to the
past, offering insights into the lives of the peoples who once inhabited
this part of the desert Southwest. The area's architectural features and
artifacts are tangible objects that can help researchers reconstruct the
human past. Such objects and, more importantly, the spatial
relationships among them, provide outstanding opportunities for
archeologists to study the way humans interacted with one another,
neighboring groups, and with the environment that sustained them in
prehistoric times.
The monument contains one of the most significant systems of later
prehistoric sites in the American Southwest. Between A.D. 1250 and 1450,
its pueblo communities were populated by up to several thousand people.
During this time, many dwelling locations in the Southwest were
abandoned and groups became aggregated in a relatively small number of
densely populated areas. The monument encompasses one of the best
examples of these areas, containing important archeological evidence
that is crucial to understanding the cultural, social, and economic
processes that accompanied this period of significant change.
At least 450 prehistoric sites are known to exist within the
monument and there are likely many more. There are at least four major
settlements within the area, including Pueblo La Plata, Pueblo Pato, the
Baby Canyon Ruin group, and the Lousy Canyon group. These consist of
clusters of stone-
masonry pueblos, some containing at least 100 rooms. These settlements
are typically situated at the edges of steep canyons, and offer a
panorama of ruins, distinctive rock art panels, and visually spectacular
settings.
Many intact petroglyph sites within the monument contain rock art
symbols pecked into the surfaces of boulders and cliff faces. The sites
range from single designs on boulders to cliffs covered with hundreds of
geometric and abstract symbols. Some of the most impressive sites are
associated with major pueblos, such as Pueblo Pato.
The monument holds an extraordinary record of prehistoric
agricultural features, including extensive terraces bounded by lines of
rocks and other types of landscape modifications. The agricultural
areas, as well as other sites, reflect the skills of ancient residents
at producing and obtaining food supplies sufficient to sustain a
population of several thousand people.
The monument also contains historic sites representing early Anglo-
American history through the 19th century, including remnants of Basque
sheep camps, historic mining features, and military activities.
In addition to its rich record of human history, the monument
contains other objects of scientific interest. This expansive mosaic of
semi-desert grassland, cut by ribbons of valuable riparian forest, is an
outstanding biological resource. The diversity of vegetative
communities, topographical features, and relative availability of water
provide habitat for a wide array of sensitive wildlife species,
including the lowland leopard frog, the Mexican garter snake, the common
black hawk, and the desert tortoise. Other wildlife is abundant and
diverse, including pronghorn, mule deer, and white-tail deer. Javelina,
mountain lions, small mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and
neotropical migratory birds also inhabit the area. Elk and black bear
are present, but less abundant. Four species of native fish, including
the longfin dace, the Gila mountain sucker, the Gila chub, and the
speckled dace, exist in the Agua Fria River and its tributaries.
Section 2 of the Act of June 8, 1906 (34 Stat. 225, 16 U.S.C. 431)
authorizes the
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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 appears that it would be in the public interest to
reserve such lands as a national monument to be known as the Agua Fria
National Monument:
Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, 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 Agua Fria National Monument,
for the purpose of protecting the objects identified above, all lands
and interests in lands owned or controlled by the United States within
the boundaries of the area described on the map entitled ``Agua Fria
National Monument'' attached to and forming a part of this proclamation.
The Federal land and interests in land reserved consist of approximately
71,100 acres, which is the smallest area compatible with the proper care
and management of the objects to be protected.
For the purpose of protecting the objects identified above, all
motorized and mechanized vehicle use off road will be prohibited, except
for emergency or authorized administrative purposes.
Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to enlarge or diminish
the jurisdiction of the State of Arizona with respect to fish and
wildlife management.
The establishment of this monument is subject to valid existing
rights.
All Federal lands and interests in lands within the boundaries of
this monument are hereby appropriated and withdrawn from all forms of
entry, location, selection, sale, leasing, or other disposition under
the public land laws, including but not limited to 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 the monument. Lands
and interests in lands within the proposed monument not owned by the
United States shall be reserved as a part of the monument upon
acquisition of title thereto by the United States.
There is hereby reserved, as of the date of this proclamation and
subject to valid existing rights, a quantity of water sufficient to
fulfill the purposes for which this monument is established. Nothing in
this reservation shall be construed as a relinquishment or reduction of
any water use or rights reserved or appropriated by the United States on
or before the date of this proclamation.
The Secretary of the Interior shall manage the monument through the
Bureau of Land Management, pursuant to applicable legal authorities, to
implement the purposes of this proclamation.
Laws, regulations, and policies followed by the Bureau of Land
Management in issuing and administering grazing leases on all lands
under its jurisdiction shall continue to apply with regard to the lands
in the monument.
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 of the lands thereof.
In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this eleventh day of
January, in the year of our Lord two thousand, and of the Independence
of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-fourth.
William J. Clinton
[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 10:45 a.m., January 14,
2000]
Note: This proclamation will be published in the Federal Register on
January 18.
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