[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 114 (Tuesday, June 13, 2000)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 37249-37252]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-15110]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 114 / Tuesday, June 13, 2000 /
Presidential Documents
[[Page 37249]]
Proclamation 7318 of June 9, 2000
Establishment of the Cascade-Siskiyou National
Monument
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 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.
[[Page 37250]]
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 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
[[Page 37251]]
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.
(Presidential Sig.)
Billing code 3195-01-P
[[Page 37252]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TD13JN00.002
[FR Doc. 00-15110
Filed 6-12-00; 10:47 am]
Billing code 3195-01-C