Monday, June 12, 2000

 

Volume 36, Issue 23; ISSN: 0511-4187

 

Proclamation 7318--Establishment of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument

William J Clinton

 

 

� 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 broadleaf 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 populationsof 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 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.