Establishment of the San Juan Islands National Monument, 18783-18787 [2013-07406]

Agencies

• Executive Office of the President

[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 60 (Thursday, March 28, 2013)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 18783-18787]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-07406]



[[Page 18787]]

[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TD28MR13.010


[FR Doc. 2013-07406
Filed 3-27-13; 8:45 am]

Billing code 4310-10-C


                        Presidential Documents 



Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 60 / Thursday, March 28, 2013 / 
Presidential Documents

___________________________________________________________________

[[Page 18789]]


                Proclamation 8947 of March 25, 2013

                
Establishment of the San Juan Islands National 
                Monument

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Within Washington State's Puget Sound lies an 
                archipelago of over 450 islands, rocks, and pinnacles 
                known as the San Juan Islands. These islands form an 
                unmatched landscape of contrasts, where forests seem to 
                spring from gray rock and distant, snow-capped peaks 
                provide the backdrop for sandy beaches. Numerous 
                wildlife species can be found here, thriving in the 
                diverse habitats supported by the islands. The presence 
                of archeological sites, historic lighthouses, and a few 
                tight-knit communities testifies that humans have 
                navigated this rugged landscape for thousands of years. 
                These lands are a refuge of scientific and historic 
                treasures and a classroom for generations of Americans.

                The islands are part of the traditional territories of 
                the Coast Salish people. Native people first used the 
                area near the end of the last glacial period, about 
                12,000 years ago. However, permanent settlements were 
                relatively uncommon until the last several hundred 
                years. The Coast Salish people often lived in villages 
                of wooden-plank houses and used numerous smaller sites 
                for fishing and harvesting shellfish. In addition to 
                collecting edible plants, and hunting various birds and 
                mammals, native people used fire to maintain meadows of 
                the nutritionally rich great camas. Archaeological 
                remains of the villages, camps, and processing sites 
                are located throughout these lands, including shell 
                middens, reef net locations, and burial sites. Wood-
                working tools, such as antler wedges, along with bone 
                barbs used for fishing hooks and projectile points, are 
                also found on the islands. Scientists working in the 
                San Juan Islands have uncovered a unique array of 
                fossils and other evidence of long-vanished species. 
                Ancient bison skeletons (10,000-12,000 years old) have 
                been found in several areas, indicating that these 
                islands were an historic mammal dispersal corridor. 
                Butcher marks on some of these bones suggest that the 
                earliest human inhabitants hunted these large animals.

                The first Europeans explored the narrows of the San 
                Juan Islands in the late 18th century, and many of 
                their names for the islands are still in use. These 
                early explorers led the way for 19th century European 
                and American traders and trappers. By 1852, American 
                settlers had established homesteads on the San Juan 
                Islands, some of which remain today. In the late 19th 
                century, the Federal Government built several 
                structures to aid in maritime navigation. Two light 
                stations and their associated buildings are located on 
                lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management 
                (BLM): Patos Island Light Station (National Register of 
                Historic Places, 1977) and Turn Point Light Station 
                (Washington State Register of Historic Places, 1978).

                The lands on Patos Island, Stuart Island, Lopez Island, 
                and neighboring islands constitute some of the most 
                scientifically interesting lands in the San Juan 
                Islands. These lands contain a dramatic and unusual 
                diversity of habitats, with forests, woodlands, 
                grasslands, and wetlands intermixed with rocky balds, 
                bluffs, inter-tidal areas, and sandy beaches. The 
                stands of forests and open woodlands, some of which are 
                several hundred years old, include a majestic 
                assemblage of trees, such as Douglas fir, red cedar, 
                western hemlock, Oregon maple, Garry oak, and Pacific 
                madrone. The fire-

[[Page 18790]]

                dependent grasslands, which are also susceptible to 
                invasive species, are home to chick lupine, 
                historically significant great camas, brittle cactus, 
                and the threatened golden paintbrush. Rocky balds and 
                bluffs are home to over 200 species of moss that are 
                extremely sensitive to disturbance and trampling. In an 
                area with limited fresh water, two wetlands on Lopez 
                Island and one on Patos Island are the most significant 
                freshwater habitats in the San Juan Islands.

                The diversity of habitats in the San Juan Islands is 
                critical to supporting an equally varied collection of 
                wildlife. Marine mammals, including orcas, seals, and 
                porpoises, attract a regular stream of wildlife 
                watchers. Native, terrestrial mammals include black-
                tail deer, river otter, mink, several bats, and the 
                Shaw Island vole. Raptors, such as bald eagles and 
                peregrine falcons, are commonly observed soaring above 
                the islands. Varied seabirds and terrestrial birds can 
                also be found here, including the threatened marbled 
                murrelet and the recently reintroduced western 
                bluebird. The island marble butterfly, once thought to 
                be extinct, is currently limited to a small population 
                in the San Juan Islands.

                The protection of these lands in the San Juan Islands 
                will maintain their historical and cultural 
                significance and enhance their unique and varied 
                natural and scientific resources, for the benefit 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 it is in the public interest to preserve the 
                objects of scientific and historic interest on the 
                lands of the San Juan Islands;

                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 
                the objects identified above that are situated upon 
                lands and interests in lands owned or controlled by the 
                Government of the United States to be the San Juan 
                Islands 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 Government of the United States and 
                administered by the Department of the Interior through 
                the BLM, including all unappropriated or unreserved 
                islands, rocks, exposed reefs, and pinnacles above mean 
                high tide, within the boundaries described on the 
                accompanying map, which is attached to and forms a part 
                of this proclamation. These reserved Federal lands and 
                interests in lands encompass approximately 970 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 the monument administered by the 
                Department of the Interior through the BLM are hereby 
                appropriated and withdrawn from all forms of entry, 
                location, selection, sale, leasing, or other 
                disposition under the public land 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 
                this proclamation.

                The establishment of the monument is subject to valid 
                existing rights. Lands and interests in lands within 
                the monument boundaries not owned or controlled by the 
                Government of the United States shall be reserved as a 
                part of the monument upon acquisition of ownership or 
                control by the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) on 
                behalf of the United States.

[[Page 18791]]

                The Secretary shall manage the monument through the BLM 
                as a unit of the National Landscape Conservation 
                System, pursuant to applicable legal authorities, to 
                implement the purposes of this proclamation, except 
                that if the Secretary hereafter acquires on behalf of 
                the United States ownership or control of any lands or 
                interests in lands within the monument boundaries not 
                owned or controlled by the United States, the Secretary 
                shall determine whether such lands and interests in 
                lands will be administered by the BLM as a unit of the 
                National Landscape Conservation System or by another 
                component of the Department of the Interior, consistent 
                with applicable legal authorities.

                For purposes of protecting and restoring the objects 
                identified above, the Secretary, through the BLM, shall 
                prepare and maintain a management plan for the monument 
                and shall establish an advisory committee under the 
                Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App.) to 
                provide information and advice regarding the 
                development of such plan.

                Except for emergency, Federal law enforcement, or 
                authorized administrative purposes, motorized vehicle 
                use in the monument shall be permitted only on 
                designated roads, and non-motorized mechanized vehicle 
                use in the monument shall be permitted only on 
                designated roads and trails.

                Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to enlarge 
                or diminish the rights of any Indian tribe. The 
                Secretary shall, in consultation with Indian tribes, 
                ensure the protection of religious 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 enlarge 
                or diminish the jurisdiction or authority of the State 
                of Washington or the United States over submerged or 
                other lands within the territorial waters off the coast 
                of Washington.

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

                Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to limit 
                the authority of the Secretary of Homeland Security to 
                engage in search and rescue operations, or to use Patos 
                Island Light Station, Turn Point Light Station, or 
                other aids to navigation for navigational or national 
                security purposes.

                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 be deemed to 
                restrict safe and efficient aircraft operations, 
                including activities and exercises of the Armed Forces 
                and the United States Coast Guard, in the vicinity of 
                the monument.

                Warning is hereby given to all unauthorized persons not 
                to appropriate, injure, destroy, or remove any feature 
                of the monument and not to locate or settle upon any of 
                the lands thereof.

[[Page 18792]]

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                twenty-fifth day of March, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand thirteen, and of the Independence of the 
                United States of America the two hundred and thirty-
                seventh.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

Billing code 3295-F3