[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.