    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 23 (Monday, June 12, 2000)]
    [Pages 1317-1319]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Proclamation 7317--Establishment of the Canyons of the Ancients National
    Monument

     June 9, 2000

     By the President of the United States

     of America

     A Proclamation

        Containing the highest known density of archaeological sites in the
    Nation, the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument holds evidence of
    cultures and traditions spanning thousands of years. This area, with its
    intertwined natural and cultural resources, is a rugged landscape, a
    quality that greatly contributes to the protection of its scientific and
    historic objects. The monument offers an unparalleled opportunity to
    observe, study, and experience how cultures lived and adapted over time
    in the American Southwest.
        The complex landscape and remarkable cultural resources of the
    Canyons of the Ancients National Monument have been a focal point for
    archaeological interest for over 125 years. Archaeological and historic
    objects such as cliff dwellings, villages, great kivas, shrines, sacred
    springs, agricultural fields, check dams, reservoirs, rock art sites,
    and sweat lodges are spread across the landscape. More than five
    thousand of these archaeologically important sites have been recorded,
    and thousands more await documentation and study. The Mockingbird Mesa
    area has over forty sites per square mile, and several canyons in that
    area hold more than three hundred sites per square mile.
        People have lived and labored to survive among these canyons and
    mesas for thousands of years, from the earliest known hunters crossing
    the area 10,000 years ago or more, through Ancestral Puebloan farmers,
    to the Ute, Navajo, and European settlers whose descendants still call
    this area home. There is scattered evidence that Paleo-Indians used the
    region on a sporadic basis for hunting and gathering until around 7500
    B.C. During the Archaic period, generally covering the next six thousand
    years, occupation of the Four Corners area was dominated by hunters and
    gatherers.
        By about 1500 B.C., the more sedentary Basketmakers spread over the
    landscape. As Ancestral Northern Puebloan people occupied the area
    around 750 A.D., farming began to blossom, and continued through about
    1300 A.D., as the area became part of a much larger prehistoric cultural
    region that included Mesa Verde to the southeast. Year-round villages
    were established, originally consisting of pit house dwellings, and
    later evolving to well-recognized cliff-dwellings. Many archaeologists
    now believe that throughout this time span, the Ancestral Northern
    Puebloan people periodically aggregated into larger communities and
    dispersed into smaller community units. Specifically, during Pueblo I
    (about 700-900 A.D.) the occupation and site density in the monument
    area increased. Dwellings tended to be small, with three or four rooms.
    Then, during Pueblo II (about 900-1150 A.D.), settlements were
    diminished and highly dispersed. Late in Pueblo II and in early Pueblo
    III, around 1150 A.D., the size and number of settlements again
    increased and residential clustering began. Later pueblos were larger
    multi-storied masonry dwellings with forty to fifty rooms. For the
    remainder of Pueblo III (1150-1300 A.D.), major aggregation occurred in
    the monument, typically at large sites at the heads of canyons. One of
    these sites includes remains of about 420 rooms, 90 kivas, a great kiva,
    and a plaza, covering more than ten acres in all. These villages were
    wrapped around the upper reaches of canyons and spread down onto talus
    slopes, enclosed year-round springs and reservoirs, and included low,
    defensive walls. The changes in architecture and site planning reflected
    a shift from independent households to a more communal lifestyle.
        Farming during the Puebloan period was affected by population growth
    and changing climate and precipitation patterns. As the population grew,
    the Ancestral Puebloans expanded into increasingly marginal areas.
    Natural resources were compromised and poor soil and growing conditions
    made survival increasingly difficult. When dry conditions persisted,
    Pueblo communities moved to the south, southwest, and southeast, where
    descendants of these Ancestral Puebloan peoples live today.

    [[Page 1318]]

        Soon after the Ancestral Puebloans left the monument area, the
    nomadic Ute and Navajo took advantage of the natural diversity found in
    the variable topography by moving to lower areas, including the
    monument's mesas and canyons, during the cooler seasons. A small number
    of forked stick hogans, brush shelters, and wickiups are the most
    obvious remnants of this period of occupation.
        The natural resources and spectacular land forms of the monument
    help explain why past and present cultures have chosen to live in the
    area. The geology of the monument evokes the very essence of the
    American Southwest. Structurally part of the Paradox Basin, from a
    distance the landscape looks deceptively benign. From the McElmo Dome in
    the southern part of the monument, the land slopes gently to the north,
    giving no indication of its true character. Once inside the area,
    however, the geology becomes more rugged and dissected. Rising sharply
    to the north of McElmo Creek, the McElmo Dome itself is buttressed by
    sheer sandstone cliffs, with mesa tops rimmed by caprock, and deeply
    incised canyons.
        The monument is home to a wide variety of wildlife species,
    including unique herpetological resources. Crucial habitat for the Mesa
    Verde nightsnake, long-nosed leopard lizard, and twin-spotted spiny
    lizard can be found within the monument in the area north of Yellow
    Jacket Canyon. Peregrine falcons have been observed in the area, as have
    golden eagles, American kestrels, red-tailed hawks, and northern
    harriers. Game birds like Gambel's quail and mourning dove are found
    throughout the monument both in dry, upland habitats, and in lush
    riparian habitat along the canyon bottoms.
        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 a national monument to be known as the Canyons of
    the Ancients 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 Canyons of the Ancients
    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 ``Canyons of the Ancients National Monument'' attached to and
    forming a part of this proclamation. The Federal land and interests in
    land reserved consist of approximately 164,000 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
    this monument are hereby appropriated and withdrawn from all forms of
    entry, location, selection, sale, 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 leasing, other than by exchange that furthers the
    protective purposes of the monument, and except for oil and gas leasing
    as prescribed herein.
        For the purpose of protecting the objects identified above, the
    Secretary of the Interior shall prohibit all motorized and mechanized
    vehicle use off road, except for emergency or authorized administrative
    purposes.
        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.
        Because most of the Federal lands have already been leased for oil
    and gas, which includes carbon dioxide, and development is already
    occurring, the monument shall remain open to oil and gas leasing and
    development; provided, the Secretary of the Interior

    [[Page 1319]]

    shall manage the development, subject to valid existing rights, so as
    not to create any new impacts that interfere with the proper care and
    management of the objects protected by this proclamation; and provided
    further, the Secretary may issue new leases only for the purpose of
    promoting conservation of oil and gas resources in any common reservoir
    now being produced under existing leases, or to protect against
    drainage.
        The Secretary of the Interior shall prepare a transportation plan
    that addresses the actions, including road closures or travel
    restrictions, necessary to protect the objects identified in 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.
        The establishment of this monument is subject to valid existing
    rights.
        Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to enlarge or diminish
    the jurisdiction of the State of Colorado with respect to fish and
    wildlife management.
        This proclamation does not reserve water as a matter of Federal law.
    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 Bureau of
    Land Management shall work with appropriate State authorities to ensure
    that any water resources needed for monument purposes are available.
        Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to enlarge or diminish
    the rights of any Indian tribe.
        Laws, regulations, and policies followed by the Bureau of Land
    Management 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.
        Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to affect the
    management of Hovenweep National Monument by the National Park Service
    (Proclamation 1654 of March 2, 1923, Proclamation 2924 of May 1, 1951,
    and Proclamation 2998 of November 26, 1952).
        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 ninth day of
    June, 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, 10:47 a.m., June 12,
    2000]

     Note:  This proclamation will be published in the  Federal Register  on
    June 13.