� Proclamation 7266-Boundary

 

 

� Enlargement of the Pinnacles

 

 

� National Monument

 

 

� January 11, 2000 By the President of the United States

 

 

� 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 eaves underlying them. The

monument sits within one of the most complex and fascinating

geologic terrains in North America, an area where rock masses have

beensliced 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

fon-nations with a series of eaves 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, redshouldered hawks, Cooper's hawks,

harriers, white-tailed kites, long-eared owls, and redtailed 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 redlegged frog, and California homed 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.