Establishment of the Fort Ord National Monument, 24579-24582 [X12-10425]

Agencies

• Executive Office of the President

[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 80 (Wednesday, April 25, 2012)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 24579-24582]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: X12-10425]




                        Presidential Documents 



Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 80 / Wednesday, April 25, 2012 / 
Presidential Documents

[[Page 24579]]


                Proclamation 8803 of April 20, 2012

                
Establishment of the Fort Ord National Monument

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                In the heart of California's Central Coast, the former 
                Fort Ord encompasses a sweeping landscape of vivid 
                beauty and rich natural diversity. One of the few 
                remaining expanses of large, contiguous open space in 
                the increasingly developed Monterey Bay area, this area 
                is a rolling landscape long treasured for recreation, 
                scientific research, outdoor education, and historical 
                significance. Originating in the Pleistocene Epoch, 
                ancient dunes provide the foundation for this 
                landscape's unique array of plant and wildlife 
                communities. The area is also notable for its 
                historical significance, including its role in the 
                Spanish settlement of California and in the military 
                training of generations of American soldiers.

                Nearly two and a half centuries ago, as Americans 
                fought for independence far to the east, these lands 
                were traversed by a group of settlers led by Spanish 
                Lieutenant Colonel Juan Bautista de Anza. In 1775-1776, 
                Anza established the first overland route from ``New 
                Spain,'' as Mexico was then known, to San Francisco, 
                opening the way for expanded Spanish settlement of 
                California. The diaries kept on this nearly 2,000-mile 
                journey were used to identify the Juan Bautista de Anza 
                National Historic Trail, approximately 6 miles of which 
                pass through the Fort Ord area. Although much of the 
                historic route currently passes through urban areas, 
                the undeveloped expanse of the Fort Ord area is likely 
                quite similar to the open landscape experienced by Anza 
                and by the Costanoan (now commonly referred to as 
                Ohlone) peoples who lived in what is now the Central 
                Coast region of California.

                The area's open, contiguous landscape owes its 
                undeveloped state in large part to its role as a U.S. 
                Army facility. From World War I through the early 
                1990s, the area's rugged terrain served as a military 
                training ground and introduced as many as a million and 
                a half American soldiers to the rigors of military 
                service. From its origins in 1917 as a training ground 
                for troops stationed at the nearby Presidio of 
                Monterey, Fort Ord had grown into a major Army 
                installation by the beginning of World War II. During 
                the Vietnam War, it served as a leading training center 
                and deployment staging ground. While the former Fort 
                Ord has few remaining historic structures, today 
                thousands of veterans carry the memory of its dramatic 
                landscape as their first taste of Army life, as a final 
                stop before deploying to war, or as a home base during 
                their military career. These lands are an historical 
                link to the heroism and dedication of the men and women 
                who served our Nation and fought in the major conflicts 
                of the 20th century.

                Today, this expansive, historic landscape provides 
                opportunities for solitude and adventure to nearly 
                100,000 visitors each year. By bicycle, horse, and foot 
                visitors can explore the Fort Ord area's scenic and 
                natural resources along trails that wind over lush 
                grasslands, between gnarled oaks, and through scrub-
                lined canyons. Within the boundaries of the Fort Ord 
                area, visitors admire the landscape and scenery and are 
                exposed to wildlife and a diverse group of rare and 
                endemic plants and animals. Because visitors travel 
                from areas near and far, these lands support a growing 
                travel and tourism sector that is a source of economic 
                opportunity for the community,

[[Page 24580]]

                especially businesses in the region. They also help to 
                attract new residents, retirees, and businesses that 
                will further diversify the local economy.

                Scientists are also drawn here, seeking out 
                opportunities to better understand once-widespread 
                species and vegetative communities, and their ongoing 
                restoration. The Fort Ord area is significant because 
                of its rich biodiversity and important Central Coast 
                habitats, supporting a diverse group of rare and 
                endemic species of plants and animals that are managed 
                across the base through a multi-agency, community-led 
                management plan. It is one of the few remaining places 
                in the world where large expanses of coastal scrub and 
                live oak woodland and savanna habitat, mixed with rare 
                vernal pools, exist in a contiguous, interconnected 
                landscape.

                The protection of the Fort Ord area will maintain its 
                historical and cultural significance, attract tourists 
                and recreationalists from near and far, and enhance its 
                unique natural resources, for the enjoyment of all 
                Americans.

                WHEREAS section 2 of the Act of June 8, 1906 (34 Stat. 
                225, 16 U.S.C. 431) (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 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 the 1991 Defense Base Closure and Realignment 
                Commission recommended that Fort Ord cease to be used 
                as an Army installation, and pursuant to the Defense 
                Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990 (Public Law 
                101-510), Fort Ord closed on September 30, 1994;

                WHEREAS it is in the public interest to reserve such 
                lands as a national monument to be known as the Fort 
                Ord National Monument;

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the 
                United States of America, by the authority vested in me 
                by section 2 of the Antiquities Act, hereby proclaim 
                that all lands and interests in lands owned or 
                controlled by the Government of the United States 
                within the boundaries described on the map entitled 
                ``Fort Ord National Monument,'' which is attached to 
                and forms a part of this proclamation, are hereby set 
                apart and reserved as the Fort Ord National Monument 
                (monument) for the purpose of protecting and restoring 
                the objects identified above. The reserved Federal 
                lands and interests in lands consist of approximately 
                14,651 acres, which is the smallest area compatible 
                with the proper care and management of the objects to 
                be protected and restored.

                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 
                lands laws, including 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.

                The establishment of this monument is subject to valid 
                existing rights. Lands and interests in lands within 
                the monument boundaries not owned or controlled by the 
                United States shall be reserved as part of the monument 
                upon acquisition of ownership or control by the United 
                States.

                Of the approximately 14,651 acres of Federal lands and 
                interests in lands reserved by this proclamation, 
                approximately 7,205 acres are currently managed by the 
                Secretary of the Interior through the Bureau of Land 
                Management (BLM) and approximately 7,446 acres are 
                currently managed by the Secretary of the Army. The 
                Secretary of the Army, in consultation with the 
                Secretary of the Interior, through the BLM, shall 
                continue to manage the lands and interests in lands 
                under the Secretary's jurisdiction within the monument

[[Page 24581]]

                boundaries until the Army transfers those lands and 
                interests in lands to the BLM in accordance with the 
                1995 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the 
                Department of the Army and the BLM, as amended, that 
                describes the responsibilities of each agency related 
                to such lands and interests in lands, the implementing 
                actions required of each agency, the process for 
                transferring administrative jurisdiction over such 
                lands and interests in lands to the Secretary of the 
                Interior, and the processes for resolving interagency 
                disputes. The Secretary of the Interior, through the 
                BLM, shall manage that portion of the monument under 
                the Secretary's administrative jurisdiction, pursuant 
                to applicable legal authorities and the MOU, to 
                implement the purposes of this proclamation.

                For purposes of protecting and restoring the objects 
                identified above, the Secretary of the Interior, 
                through the BLM, shall prepare and maintain a 
                transportation plan, in coordination with the Secretary 
                of the Army and consistent with the MOU, that provides 
                for visitor enjoyment and understanding of the 
                scientific and historic objects on lands within the 
                monument boundaries that are under the administrative 
                jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior. The 
                transportation plan shall include the designation of 
                roads and trails for bicycling and other purposes. 
                Except for emergency or authorized administrative 
                purposes, under the transportation plan motorized 
                vehicle use shall be permitted only on designated 
                roads, and non-motorized mechanized vehicle use shall 
                be permitted only on designated roads and trails. The 
                plan shall be revised upon the transfer of lands now 
                under the administrative jurisdiction of the Secretary 
                of the Army to the Secretary of the Interior in 
                accordance with the MOU.

                Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to enlarge 
                or diminish the rights of any Indian tribe.

                Nothing in this proclamation shall affect the 
                responsibility of the Department of the Army under 
                applicable environmental laws, including the 
                remediation of hazardous substances or munitions and 
                explosives of concern within the monument boundaries; 
                nor affect the Department of the Army's statutory 
                authority to control public access or statutory 
                responsibility to make other measures for environmental 
                remediation, monitoring, security, safety, or emergency 
                preparedness purposes; nor affect any Department of the 
                Army activities on lands not included within the 
                monument. Nothing in this proclamation shall affect the 
                implementation of the Installation-Wide Multispecies 
                Habitat Management Plan for the former Fort Ord 
                including interagency agreements implementing that 
                plan.

                Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to enlarge 
                or diminish the jurisdiction of the State of California 
                with respect to fish and wildlife management.

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

[[Page 24582]]

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                twentieth day of April, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand twelve, and of the Independence of the United 
                States of America the two hundred and thirty-sixth.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

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