[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 2 (Monday, January 17, 2000)]
[Pages 48-50]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
<R04>
Proclamation 7266--Boundary Enlargement of the Pinnacles National
Monument
January 11, 2000
By the President of the United States
of America
A Proclamation
Pinnacles National Monument was established on January 16, 1908, for
the purpose of protecting its natural rock formations, known as
Pinnacles Rocks, and the series of talus caves underlying them. The
monument sits within one of the most complex and fascinating geologic
terrains in North America, an area where rock masses have been sliced
apart, transported for up to hundreds of miles, and then reassembled
into a fantastic geologic mixture. The monument holds only half of an
ancient volcano; the other half is found 195 miles to the southeast in
northern Los Angeles County. The volcano was split apart and transported
north by an early strand of the San Andreas Fault, known as the Chalone
Creek Fault, which lies within the monument. The pinnacles inside the
monument are composed mainly of volcanic breccia, a mixture of angular
blocks of volcanic lava, pumice, and ash. The occurrence of the
pinnacles within the monument is unusual, as some of these volcanic
rocks also contain marine fossils.
Since 1908, the boundaries of the monument have been enlarged on
five occasions by presidential proclamations issued pursuant to the
Antiquities Act (34 Stat. 225, 16 U.S.C. 431). Proclamation 1660 of May
7, 1923, added 562 acres to include additional natural formations with a
series of caves underlying them. Proclamation 1704 of July 2, 1924,
added adjoining lands that included a spring of water and valuable
camping sites. Proclamation 1948 of April 13, 1931, added 1,926 acres
that held additional features of scientific and educational interest and
for administrative purposes. For these same purposes, the boundary was
later expanded on July 11, 1933 (Proclamation 2050). Proclamation 2528
of December 5, 1941, added additional lands adjoining Pinnacles National
Monument in order to protect more objects of scientific interest in the
monument area. The boundary of the monument was further expanded by
statute on October 20, 1976 (Public Law 94-567, 90 Stat. 2693).
The boundary enlargement affected by this proclamation is central to
the continued preservation of the Pinnacles National Monument's unique
resources. In addition to containing pieces of the same faults that
created the tremendous geologic formations throughout the monument, the
expansion lands hold part of the headwaters that drain into the basin of
the monument. Over millions of years, flash floods and stream currents
have helped to sculpt the land's natural features. Additionally, these
lands contain a biological system that must be protected if the wild
character and ecosystem of the monument are to be preserved. The
geologic formations provide a stellar habitat for important and
sometimes fragile biological resources. For example, raptor populations,
including prairie falcons, golden eagles, red-shouldered hawks, Cooper's
hawks, harriers, white-tailed kites, long-eared owls, and red-tailed
hawks, nest on the rocky formations and forage in the broad watershed.
The lands within the expansion area contain steep, rugged slopes
surrounding small canyons. Shallow rocky soils, gravel creek beds, and
steeply rising topography combine to create a dynamic flood environment.
The lands preserve a complex association of plant communities
characteristic of the chaparral. Along the watercourses, live-oaks,
buckeyes, and sycamore grow. Blue oak woodlands and grasslands occur on
the deepest soils. Creeks that flow in and out of the existing monument
and the expansion lands provide highly valuable riparian habitat for
wildlife. The western pond turtle, two-striped garter snake, silvery
legless lizard, threatened California red-
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legged frog, and California horned lizard inhabit these lands. By
expanding the monument, these unique biological resources can be
afforded more complete protection to maintain and enhance the ecosystems
of the monument.
Section 2 of the Act of June 8, 1906 (34 Stat. 225, 16 U.S.C. 431)
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 appears that it would be in the public interest to
reserve such lands as an addition to the Pinnacles 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 an addition to the Pinnacles
National Monument, for the purpose of care, management, and protection
of the objects of scientific interest situated on lands within the said
monument, all lands and interests in lands owned or controlled by the
United States within the boundaries of the area described on the map
entitled ``Pinnacles National Monument Boundary Enlargement'' attached
to and forming a part of this proclamation. The Federal land and
interests in land reserved consist of approximately 7,900 acres, which
is the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of
the objects to be protected.
The enlargement 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 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 the 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 area being added to
the monument through the National Park Service, under the same laws and
regulations that apply to the rest of the monument, except that
livestock grazing may be permitted in the area added by this
proclamation.
Wilderness Study Areas included in the monument will continue to be
managed under section 603(c) of the Federal Land Policy and Management
Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.).
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 twentieth.
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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