Establishment of the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, 59121-59128 [2016-20786]

Agencies

• Executive Office of the President

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 167 (Monday, August 29, 2016)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 59121-59128]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-20786]




                        Presidential Documents 



Federal Register / Vol. 81 , No. 167 / Monday, August 29, 2016 / 
Presidential Documents

___________________________________________________________________

Title 3--
The President

[[Page 59121]]

                Proclamation 9476 of August 24, 2016

                
Establishment of the Katahdin Woods and Waters 
                National Monument

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                In north central Maine lies an area of the North Woods 
                known in recent years as the Katahdin Woods and Waters 
                Recreation Area (Katahdin Woods and Waters), 
                approximately 87,500 acres within a larger landscape 
                already conserved by public and private efforts 
                starting a century ago. Katahdin Woods and Waters 
                contains a significant piece of this extraordinary 
                natural and cultural landscape: the mountains, woods, 
                and waters east of Baxter State Park (home of Mount 
                Katahdin, the northern terminus of the Appalachian 
                Trail), where the East Branch of the Penobscot River 
                and its tributaries, including the Wassataquoik Stream 
                and the Seboeis River, run freely. Since the glaciers 
                retreated 12,000 years ago, these waterways and 
                associated resources--the scenery, geology, flora and 
                fauna, night skies, and more--have attracted people to 
                this area. Native Americans still cherish these 
                resources. Lumberjacks, river drivers, and timber 
                owners have earned their livings here. Artists, 
                authors, scientists, conservationists, recreationists, 
                and others have drawn knowledge and inspiration from 
                this landscape.

                Katahdin Woods and Waters contains objects of 
                significant scientific and historic interest. For some 
                11,000 years, Native peoples have inhabited the area, 
                depending on its waterways and woods for sustenance. 
                They traveled during the year from the upper reaches of 
                the East Branch of the Penobscot River and its 
                tributaries to coastal destinations like Frenchman and 
                Penobscot Bays. Native peoples have traditionally used 
                the rivers as a vast transportation network, seasonally 
                searching for food, furs, medicines, and many other 
                resources. Based on the results of archeological 
                research performed in nearby areas, researchers believe 
                that much of the archeological record of this long 
                Native American presence in Katahdin Woods and Waters 
                remains to be discovered, creating significant 
                opportunity for scientific investigation. What is known 
                is that the Wabanaki people, in particular the 
                Penobscot Indian Nation, consider the Penobscot River 
                (including the East Branch watershed) a centerpiece of 
                their culture and spiritual values.

                The first documented Euro-American exploration of the 
                Katahdin region dates to a 1793 survey commissioned by 
                the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. After Maine achieved 
                statehood in 1820, Major Joseph Treat, guided by John 
                Neptune of the Penobscot Tribe, produced the first 
                detailed maps of the region. The Maine Boundary 
                Commission authorized a survey of the new State in 
                1825, for which surveyor Joseph C. Norris, Sr., and his 
                son established the ``Monument Line,'' which runs 
                through Katahdin Woods and Waters and serves as the 
                State's east-west baseline from which township 
                boundaries are drawn.

                By the early 19th century until the late 20th century, 
                logging was a way of life throughout the area, as 
                exemplified by the history of logging along the 
                Wassataquoik Stream. To access the upstream forests, a 
                tote road was built on the Wassataquoik's north bank 
                around 1841; traces of the old road can still be seen 
                in places. The earliest loggers felled enormous white 
                pines and then ``drove'' them down the tumultuous 
                stream. Beginning in the 1880s, after the choice pines 
                were gone, the loggers switched to spruce

[[Page 59122]]

                long logs, and built camps, depots, and many dams on 
                the Wassataquoik to control its flow for the log 
                drives. Remnants of the Dacey and Robar Dams have been 
                found, and discovery of more logging remnants and 
                historic artifacts is likely. Log driving was 
                dangerous, and many men died on the river and were 
                buried nearby. A large fire in 1884 damaged logging 
                operations on the Wassataquoik, and an even larger fire 
                in 1903 put an end to the long log operations. Pulpwood 
                operations resumed in 1910 but ceased in 1915. Other 
                streams, like Sandy Stream, have similar logging 
                histories.

                The East Branch of the Penobscot River and its major 
                tributaries served as a thoroughfare for huge log 
                drives headed toward Bangor. Log drives ended (based 
                primarily on environmental concerns) in the 1970s, 
                after which the timber companies relied on trucking and 
                a network of private roads they started to build in the 
                1950s.

                In the 1800s, the infrastructure that developed to 
                support the logging industry also drew hunters, 
                anglers, and hikers to the area. In the 1830s, within 2 
                miles of one another on the eastern side of the 
                Penobscot East Branch, William Hunt and Hiram Dacey 
                established farms to serve loggers, which soon also 
                served recreationists, scientists, and others who 
                wanted to explore the Katahdin region or climb its 
                mountains. Just across the East Branch from the Hunt 
                and Dacey Farms (the latter now the site of Lunksoos 
                Camps) lies the entrance to the Wassataquoik Stream. In 
                1848, the Reverend Marcus Keep established what is 
                still called Keep Path, running along the Wassataquoik 
                to Katahdin Lake and on to Mount Katahdin. From that 
                time until the end of the 19th century, the favored 
                entryway to the Katahdin region started on the east 
                side of Mount Katahdin with a visit to Hunt or Dacey 
                Farm, then crossed the East Branch and ascended the 
                valley of the Wassataquoik Stream.

                Henry David Thoreau--who made the ``Maine Woods'' 
                famous through his publications--approached from the 
                headwaters of the East Branch to the north. With his 
                Penobscot guide Joe Polis and companion Edward Hoar in 
                1857, on his last and longest trip to the area, he 
                paddled past Dacey Farm with just a brief stop at Hunt 
                Farm. He wrote about his two nights in the Katahdin 
                Woods and Waters area--the first at what he named the 
                ``Checkerberry-tea camp,'' near the oxbow just upriver 
                from Stair Falls, and the second on the river between 
                Dacey and Hunt Farms where he drank hemlock tea.

                During his 1879 Maine trip on which he summited Mount 
                Katahdin, Theodore Roosevelt followed the route across 
                the East Branch and up the Wassataquoik. As Roosevelt 
                later recalled, he lost one of his hiking boots 
                crossing the Wassataquoik but, undaunted, completed the 
                challenging trek in moccasins. Many including Roosevelt 
                himself have observed that his several trips to the 
                Katahdin region in the late 1870s had a significant 
                impact on his life, as he overcame longstanding health 
                problems, gained strength and stamina, experienced the 
                wonder of nature and the desire to conserve it, and 
                made friends for life from the Maine Woods.

                Native Mainer Percival P. Baxter, too, followed this 
                route on the 1920 trip that solidified his 
                determination to create a large park from this 
                landscape. Burton Howe, a Patten lumberman, organized 
                this trip of Maine notables, who stayed at Lunksoos 
                Camps before their ascent via the established route. As 
                a State representative, senator, and governor, Baxter 
                had proposed legislation to create a Mount Katahdin 
                park in commemoration of the State's centennial, and 
                the 1920 trip cemented his profound appreciation of the 
                landscape. Spurned by the Maine legislature, Baxter 
                devoted his life to acquiring 28 parcels of land, 
                largely from timber companies who had heavily logged 
                them, and donated them to the State with management 
                instructions and an endowment, resulting in the 
                establishment of Baxter State Park.

                Artists and photographers have left indelible images of 
                their time spent in the area. In 1832, John James 
                Audubon canoed the East Branch and sketched natural 
                features for his masterpiece Birds of America. Frederic

[[Page 59123]]

                Edwin Church, the preeminent landscape artist of the 
                Hudson River School, first visited the area in the 
                1850s, and in 1877 invited his landscape-painter 
                colleagues to join him on a well-publicized expedition 
                from Hunt Farm up the Wassataquoik Stream to capture 
                varied views of Mount Katahdin and environs. In the 
                early 1900s, George H. Hallowell painted and 
                photographed the log drives on the Wassataquoik Stream, 
                and Carl Sprinchorn painted logging activities on the 
                Seboeis River.

                Geologists were among the earliest scientists to visit 
                the area. While surveys were done in the 1800s, in-
                depth geological research and mapping of the area did 
                not begin until the 1950s. These mid-20th century 
                geologists found bedrock spanning over 150 million 
                years of the Paleozoic era, revealing a remarkably 
                complete exposure of Paleozoic rock strata with well-
                preserved fossils. The lands west of the Penobscot East 
                Branch are dominated by volcanic and granitic rock from 
                the Devonian period, mostly Katahdin Granite but also 
                Traveler Rhyolite, a light-colored volcanic rock that 
                is similar in composition to granite. The oldest rock 
                in Katahdin Woods and Waters, a light greenish-gray 
                quartzite interlayered with slate from the early 
                Cambrian period (over 500 million years ago), can be 
                observed along the riverbank of the Penobscot East 
                Branch for over 1,000 feet at the Grand Pitch (a river 
                rapid). This rock is part of the Weeksboro-Lunksoos 
                Lake anticline, a broad upward fold of rocks originally 
                deposited horizontally, which is evidence of mountain-
                building tectonics. The fold continues north along the 
                river and then turns northeast toward Shin Pond, 
                exposing successive bands of younger Paleozoic rock of 
                both volcanic and sedimentary origin on either side of 
                the structure.

                Various formations in the area provide striking visual 
                evidence of marine waters in Katahdin Woods and Waters 
                during the geologic periods that immediately followed 
                the Cambrian period. For example, Owen Brook limestone, 
                an outcrop of calcareous bedrock west of the Penobscot 
                East Branch containing fossil brachiopods, is of coral 
                reef origin. Pillow lavas, such as those near the 
                summit of Lunksoos Mountain, were produced by 
                underwater eruptions. Haskell Rock, the 20-foot-tall 
                pillar in the midst of a Penobscot East Branch rapid, 
                is conglomerate bedrock that suggests a time of dynamic 
                transition from volcanic islands to an ocean with 
                underwater sedimentation. This conglomerate, deposited 
                about 450 million years ago, contains volcanic and 
                sedimentary stones of various sizes, and occurs in 
                outcrops and boulders in several locations.

                The area's geology also provides prominent evidence of 
                large and powerful earth-changing events. During the 
                Paleozoic era (541 to 252 million years ago), mountain-
                building events contributed to the rise of the 
                primordial Appalachian Mountain range and the 
                amalgamation of the supercontinent Pangaea. Following 
                the last mountain-building event, significant erosion 
                reshaped the topography, helping to expose the cores of 
                volcanoes, the Katahdin pluton, and the structure of 
                the previous mountain-building events. About 200 
                million years ago, Pangaea began splitting apart as the 
                Atlantic Ocean appeared and North America, Europe, and 
                Africa formed. Today, the International Appalachian 
                Trail, a long-distance hiking trail, seeks to follow 
                the ancestral Appalachian-Caledonian Mountains on both 
                sides of the Atlantic, starting at Katahdin Lake in 
                Baxter State Park near the northern end of the domestic 
                Appalachian Trail, traversing Katahdin Woods and Waters 
                for about 30 miles, and proceeding through Canada for 
                resumption across the Atlantic.

                In more recent geological history, during the 
                approximately 2.5 million year-long Pleistocene epoch 
                that ended approximately 12,000 years ago, repeated 
                glaciations covered the region, eroding bedrock and 
                shaping the modern landscape. Glacial till from the 
                most recent glaciations underlies much of the area's 
                soil, moraines occur in several locations, and glacial 
                erratics are common. Prominent eskers--long, snaking 
                ridges of sand and gravel deposited by glacial 
                meltwater--occur along most of the Penobscot East 
                Branch and the Wassataquoik Stream. Glacial landforms, 
                glacial scoured

[[Page 59124]]

                bedrock, and the lake sediments in the area, deposited 
                only since the retreat of the last glaciers, record a 
                history of intense climate change that gave rise to the 
                modern topography of the area.

                This post-glacial topography is studded with attractive 
                small mountains, including some like Deasey, Lunksoos, 
                and Barnard, that offer spectacular views of Mount 
                Katahdin. Katahdin Woods and Waters abuts much of 
                Baxter State Park's eastern boundary, extending the 
                conservation landscape through shared mountains, 
                streams, corridors for plants and animals, and other 
                natural systems.

                Among the defining natural features of Katahdin Woods 
                and Waters is the East Branch of the Penobscot River 
                system, including its major tributaries, the Seboeis 
                River and the Wassataquoik Stream, and many smaller 
                tributaries. Known as one of the least developed 
                watersheds in the northeastern United States, the 
                Penobscot East Branch River system has a stunning 
                concentration of hydrological features in addition to 
                its significant geology and ecology. From the northern 
                boundary of Katahdin Woods and Waters, the main stem of 
                the East Branch drops over 200 feet in about 10 miles 
                through a series of rapids and waterfalls--including 
                Stair Falls, Haskell Rock Pitch, Pond Pitch, Grand 
                Pitch, the Hulling Machine, and Bowlin Falls.

                After Bowlin Brook, the main stem declines more gently 
                south toward Whetstone Falls and below, embroidered 
                with many side channels and associated floodplain 
                forests and open streamshores. Of the two major 
                tributaries, the Seboeis River flows in from the east, 
                and the Wassataquoik Stream from the west, the latter 
                dropping over 500 feet in its approximately 14-mile 
                wild run from the border of Baxter State Park to its 
                confluence with the Penobscot East Branch main stem.

                The extraordinary significance of the Penobscot East 
                Branch River system has long been recognized. A 1977 
                Department of the Interior study determined that the 
                East Branch of the Penobscot River, including the 
                Wassataquoik Stream, qualifies for inclusion in the 
                National Wild and Scenic Rivers System based on its 
                outstandingly remarkable values, and a 1982 Federal-
                State study of rivers in Maine determined that the 
                Penobscot East Branch River System, including both the 
                Wassataquoik Stream and the Seboeis River, ranks in the 
                highest category of natural and recreational rivers and 
                possesses nationally significant resource values.

                In recent years, a multi-party public-private project 
                has taken steps to reconnect the Penobscot River with 
                the sea through the removal and retrofitting of 
                downstream dams. This river restoration will likely 
                further enhance the integrity of the Penobscot East 
                Branch river system, and provide opportunities for 
                scientific study of the effects of the restoration on 
                upstream areas within Katahdin Woods and Waters. It 
                will also allow federally endangered Atlantic salmon to 
                return to the upper reaches of the river known in the 
                Penobscot language as ``Wassetegweweck,'' or ``the 
                place where they spear fish.'' The return of ocean-run 
                Atlantic salmon to this watershed would complement the 
                exceptional native brook trout fishery for which 
                Katahdin Woods and Waters is known today.

                Katahdin Woods and Waters possesses significant 
                biodiversity. Spanning three ecoregions, it displays 
                the transition between northern boreal and southern 
                broadleaf deciduous forests, providing a unique and 
                important opportunity for scientific investigation of 
                the effects of climate change across ecotones. The 
                forests include mixed hardwoods like sugar maple, 
                beech, and yellow birch; mixed forests with hardwoods, 
                hemlock, and white pine; and spruce-fir forests with 
                balsam fir, red spruce, and birches. In wetland areas, 
                black spruce, white spruce, red maple, and tamarack 
                dominate.

                Although significant portions of the area have been 
                logged in recent years, the regenerating forests retain 
                connectivity and provide significant biodiversity among 
                plant and animal communities, enhancing their 
                ecological resilience. With the complex matrix of 
                microclimates represented, the area likely contains the 
                attributes needed to sustain natural ecological 
                function in the

[[Page 59125]]

                face of climate change, and provide natural strongholds 
                for species into the future. These forests also afford 
                connections and scientific comparisons with the forests 
                on adjacent State land, including Baxter State Park, 
                which was logged heavily before its parcel-by-parcel 
                purchase by former Governor Percival Baxter between 
                1931 and 1963.

                Of particular scientific significance are the number 
                and quality of small and medium-sized patch ecosystems 
                throughout the area, tending to occur in less common 
                topography that is often relatively remote or 
                inaccessible. Hilltops and barrens often protect rare 
                flora and fauna, such as the blueberry-lichen barren 
                and associated spruce-heath barren found between Robar 
                and Eastern Brooks, and the three-toothed cinquefoil-
                blueberry low summit bald atop Lunksoos Mountain, where 
                rattlesnake hawkweed can be found. Cliffs and steep 
                slopes, like those present along the ridge from Deasey 
                Mountain to Little Spring Brook Mountain and on the 
                eastern sides of Billfish and Traveler Mountains, 
                harbor exemplary rock outcrop ecosystems that often 
                include flora of special interest, such as fragrant 
                cliff wood-fern and purple clematis. Ravines and coves 
                can support enriched forests like the maple-basswood-
                ash community found below the eastern cliffs of 
                Lunksoos Mountain, with trees over 250 years old and 
                associated rare plants including squirrel-corn. The 
                Appalachian-Acadian rivershore ecosystems of the 
                Penobscot East Branch and its two major tributaries are 
                considered exemplary in Maine, with occurrences of 
                beautiful silver maple floodplain forest and hardwood 
                river terrace forest--rare and imperiled natural 
                communities, respectively, in the State. A nationally 
                significant diversity of high quality wetlands and wet 
                basins occurs throughout Katahdin Woods and Waters, 
                including smaller streams and brooks, ponds, swamps, 
                bogs, and fens. Patch forests of various types also 
                occur throughout the area, such as a red-pine woodland 
                forest on small hills and ridges amid the large Mud 
                Brook Flowage wetland in the southwestern section.

                The expanse of Katahdin Woods and Waters, augmented by 
                its location next to other large conservation 
                properties including Baxter State Park and additional 
                State reservations, supports many wide-ranging wildlife 
                species including ruffed grouse, moose, black bear, 
                white-tailed deer, snowshoe hare, American marten, 
                bobcat, bald eagle, northern goshawk, and the federally 
                threatened Canada lynx. Seventy-eight bird species are 
                known to breed in the area, and many more bird species 
                use it. Visitation and study of the area have been 
                limited to date, as compared with other areas like 
                Baxter State Park, and many more species of birds and 
                other wildlife may be present.

                Certain wildlife species are known to occur in specific 
                patch ecosystems in the area, such as the short-eared 
                owl in hilltops and barrens, and the silver-haired bat 
                and the wood turtle in floodplain forests. Mussels such 
                as the tidewater mucket and yellow lampmussel live in 
                some of the brooks and streams, and rare invertebrates 
                like the copper butterfly, pygmy snaketail dragonfly, 
                Tomah mayfly, and Roaring Brook mayfly inhabit some of 
                its bogs and fens.

                Katahdin Woods and Waters's daytime scenery is awe-
                inspiring, from the breadth of its mountain-studded 
                landscape, to the channels of its free-flowing streams 
                with their rapids, falls, and quiet water, to its 
                vantages for viewing the Mount Katahdin massif, the 
                ``greatest mountain.'' The area's night skies rival 
                this experience, glittering with stars and planets and 
                occasional displays of the aurora borealis, in this 
                area of the country known for its dark sky.

                WHEREAS, section 320301 of title 54, United States Code 
                (known as the ``Antiquities Act''), 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 Federal Government to be 
                national monuments, and to reserve as a part thereof 
                parcels of land, the limits of which shall be confined 
                to the smallest area compatible with the proper care 
                and management of the objects to be protected;

[[Page 59126]]

                WHEREAS, for the purpose of establishing a national 
                monument to be administered by the National Park 
                Service, Elliotsville Plantation, Inc. (EPI), has 
                donated certain lands and interests in land within 
                Katahdin Woods and Waters to the Federal Government;

                WHEREAS, the Roxanne Quimby Foundation has established 
                a substantial endowment with the National Park 
                Foundation to support the administration of a national 
                monument;

                WHEREAS, Katahdin Woods and Waters is an exceptional 
                example of the rich and storied Maine Woods, enhanced 
                by its location in a larger protected landscape, and 
                thus would be a valuable addition to the Nation's 
                natural, historical, and cultural heritage conserved 
                and enjoyed in the National Park System;

                WHEREAS, it is in the public interest to preserve and 
                protect the historic and scientific objects in Katahdin 
                Woods and Waters;

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the 
                United States of America, by the authority vested in me 
                by section 320301 of title 54, United States Code, 
                hereby proclaim the objects identified above that are 
                situated upon lands and interests in lands owned or 
                controlled by the Federal Government to be the Katahdin 
                Woods and Waters National Monument (monument) and, for 
                the purpose of protecting those objects, reserve as a 
                part thereof all lands and interests in lands owned or 
                controlled by the Federal Government within the 
                boundaries described on the accompanying map entitled, 
                ``Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument,'' which 
                is attached to and forms a part of this proclamation. 
                The reserved Federal lands and interests in lands 
                encompass approximately 87,500 acres. The boundaries 
                described on the accompanying map are confined to 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 described on the accompanying map are hereby 
                appropriated and withdrawn from all forms of entry, 
                location, selection, sale, or other disposition under 
                the public land laws, from location, entry, and patent 
                under the mining laws, and from disposition under all 
                laws relating to mineral and geothermal leasing.

                The establishment of the monument is subject to valid 
                existing rights, including the November 29, 2007, 
                ``Access Agreement'' between EPI and the State of 
                Maine, Department of Conservation that provides for 
                certain public snowmobile use on specified parcels, and 
                certain reservations of rights for Elliotsville 
                Plantation, Inc., in specified parcels. If the Federal 
                Government acquires any lands or interests in lands not 
                owned or controlled by the Federal Government within 
                the boundaries described on the accompanying map, such 
                lands and interests in lands shall be reserved as a 
                part of the monument, and objects identified above that 
                are situated upon those lands and interests in lands 
                shall be part of the monument, upon acquisition of 
                ownership or control by the Federal Government.

                The Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) shall manage 
                these lands through the National Park Service, pursuant 
                to applicable authorities and consistent with the valid 
                existing rights and the purposes and provisions of this 
                proclamation. As provided in the deeds, the Secretary 
                shall allow hunting by the public on the parcels east 
                of the East Branch of the Penobscot River in accordance 
                with applicable law. The Secretary may restrict hunting 
                in designated zones and during designated periods for 
                reasons of public safety, administration, or resource 
                protection. This proclamation will not otherwise affect 
                the authority of the State of Maine with respect to 
                hunting.

                The Secretary shall prepare a management plan to 
                implement the purposes of this proclamation, with full 
                public involvement, within 3 years of the date of this 
                proclamation. The Secretary shall use available 
                authorities, as appropriate, to enter into agreements 
                with others to address common interests and promote 
                management needs and efficiencies.

[[Page 59127]]

                Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to enlarge 
                or diminish the rights of any Indian tribe. The 
                Secretary shall, to the maximum extent permitted by law 
                and in consultation with Indian tribes, ensure the 
                protection of Indian sacred sites and cultural sites in 
                the monument and provide access to the sites by members 
                of Indian tribes for traditional cultural and customary 
                uses, consistent with the American Indian Religious 
                Freedom Act (42 U.S.C. 1996) and Executive Order 13007 
                of May 24, 1996 (Indian Sacred Sites).

                Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to revoke 
                any existing withdrawal, reservation, or appropriation; 
                however, the monument shall be the dominant 
                reservation.

                Nothing in this proclamation shall preclude the use of 
                existing low level Military Training Routes, consistent 
                with applicable Federal Aviation Administration 
                regulations and guidance for overflights of military 
                aircraft, consistent with the care and management of 
                the objects to be protected.

                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 
                twenty-fourth day of August, in the year of our Lord 
                two thousand sixteen, and of the Independence of the 
                United States of America the two hundred and forty-
                first.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

Billing code 3295-F6-P



[[Page 59128]]

[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TD29AU16.000


[FR Doc. 2016-20786
Filed 8-26-16; 8:45 a.m.]
Billing code 4310-10-C