[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 23 (Monday, June 12, 2000)]
[Pages 1319-1322]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
<R04>
Proclamation 7318--Establishment of the Cascade-Siskiyou National
Monument
June 9, 2000
By the President of the United States
of America
A Proclamation
With towering fir forests, sunlit oak groves, wildflower-strewn
meadows, and steep canyons, the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument is an
ecological wonder, with biological diversity unmatched in the Cascade
Range. This rich enclave of natural resources is a biological
crossroads--the interface of the Cascade, Klamath, and Siskiyou
ecoregions, in an area of unique geology, biology, climate, and
topography.
The monument is home to a spectacular variety of rare and beautiful
species of plants and animals, whose survival in this region depends
upon its continued ecological integrity. Plant communities present a
rich mosaic of grass and shrublands, Garry and California black oak
woodlands, juniper scablands, mixed conifer and white fir forests, and
wet meadows. Stream bottoms support broad-leaf deciduous riparian trees
and shrubs. Special plant communities include rosaceous
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chaparral and oak-juniper woodlands. The monument also contains many
rare and endemic plants, such as Greene's Mariposa lily, Gentner's
fritillary, and Bellinger's meadowfoam.
The monument supports an exceptional range of fauna, including one
of the highest diversities of butterfly species in the United States.
The Jenny Creek portion of the monument is a significant center of fresh
water snail diversity, and is home to three endemic fish species,
including a long-isolated stock of redband trout. The monument contains
important populations of small mammals, reptile and amphibian species,
and ungulates, including important winter habitat for deer. It also
contains old growth habitat crucial to the threatened Northern spotted
owl and numerous other bird species such as the western bluebird, the
western meadowlark, the pileated woodpecker, the flammulated owl, and
the pygmy nuthatch.
The monument's geology contributes substantially to its spectacular
biological diversity. The majority of the monument is within the Cascade
Mountain Range. The western edge of the monument lies within the older
Klamath Mountain geologic province. The dynamic plate tectonics of the
area, and the mixing of igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary geological
formations, have resulted in diverse lithologies and soils. Along with
periods of geological isolation and a range of environmental conditions,
the complex geologic history of the area has been instrumental in
producing the diverse vegetative and biological richness seen today.
One of the most striking features of the Western Cascades in this
area is Pilot Rock, located near the southern boundary of the monument.
The rock is a volcanic plug, a remnant of a feeder vent left after a
volcano eroded away, leaving an outstanding example of the inside of a
volcano. Pilot Rock has sheer, vertical basalt faces up to 400 feet
above the talus slope at its base, with classic columnar jointing
created by the cooling of its andesite composition.
The Siskiyou Pass in the southwest corner of the monument contains
portions of the Oregon/California Trail, the region's main north/south
travel route first established by Native Americans in prehistoric times,
and used by Peter Skene Ogden in his 1827 exploration for the Hudson's
Bay Company.
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 Cascade-
Siskiyou 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 Cascade-Siskiyou 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
``Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument'' attached to and forming a part of
this proclamation. The Federal land and interests in land reserved
consist of approximately 52,000 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 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.
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
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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 commercial harvest of timber or other vegetative material is
prohibited, except when part of an authorized science-based ecological
restoration project aimed at meeting protection and old growth
enhancement objectives. Any such project must be consistent with the
purposes of this proclamation. No portion of the monument shall be
considered to be suited for timber production, and no part of the
monument shall be used in a calculation or provision of a sustained
yield of timber. Removal of trees from within the monument area may take
place only if clearly needed for ecological restoration and maintenance
or public safety.
For the purpose of protecting the objects identified above, the
Secretary of the Interior shall prohibit all motorized and mechanized
vehicle use off road and shall close the Schoheim 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.
The Secretary of the Interior shall manage the monument through the
Bureau of Land Management, pursuant to applicable legal authorities
(including, where applicable, the Act of August 28, 1937, as amended (43
U.S.C. 1181a-1181j)), to implement the purposes of this proclamation.
The Secretary of the Interior shall prepare, within 3 years of this
date, a management plan for this monument, and shall promulgate such
regulations for its management as he deems appropriate. The management
plan shall include appropriate transportation planning 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 study the impacts of livestock
grazing on the objects of biological interest in the monument with
specific attention to sustaining the natural ecosystem dynamics.
Existing authorized permits or leases may continue with appropriate
terms and conditions under existing laws and regulations. Should grazing
be found incompatible with protecting the objects of biological
interest, the Secretary shall retire the grazing allotments pursuant to
the processes of applicable law. Should grazing permits or leases be
relinquished by existing holders, the Secretary shall not reallocate the
forage available under such permits or for livestock grazing purposes
unless the Secretary specifically finds, pending the outcome of the
study, that such reallocation will advance the purposes of the
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 Oregon with respect to fish and
wildlife management.
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.
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