Boundary Enlargement of the California Coastal National Monument, 14603-14605 [X14-10314]

Agencies

• Executive Office of the President

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 50 (Friday, March 14, 2014)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 14603-14605]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: X14-10314]



[[Page 14601]]

Vol. 79

Friday,

No. 50

March 14, 2014

Part II





The President





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Proclamation 9089--Boundary Enlargement of the California Coastal 
National Monument



Notice of March 12, 2014--Continuation of the National Emergency With 
Respect to Iran


                        Presidential Documents 



Federal Register / Vol. 79 , No. 50 / Friday, March 14, 2014 / 
Presidential Documents

___________________________________________________________________

Title 3--
The President

[[Page 14603]]

                Proclamation 9089 of March 11, 2014

                
Boundary Enlargement of the California Coastal 
                National Monument

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Through Proclamation 7264 of January 11, 2000, 
                President Clinton established the California Coastal 
                National Monument (monument) to protect the biological 
                treasures situated offshore on thousands of 
                unappropriated or unreserved islands, rocks, exposed 
                reefs, and pinnacles owned or controlled by the 
                Government of the United States within 12 nautical 
                miles of the shoreline of the State of California. 
                These dramatic features contribute to California's awe-
                inspiring coastal scenery and provide havens for 
                significant populations of seabirds and marine mammals. 
                The monument protects feeding and nesting habitat for 
                an estimated 200,000 breeding seabirds. Development on 
                the mainland has forced seabirds that once fed and 
                nested in the shoreline ecosystem to retreat to these 
                protected areas. The monument also protects forage and 
                breeding habitat for California sea lions, southern sea 
                otters, and northern (Steller) sea lions.

                As President Clinton noted in his proclamation, 
                although these offshore habitats may appear distinct 
                from nearby shoreline habitats, they are dependent upon 
                each other, with vital and dynamic exchange of 
                nutrients and organisms being essential to maintaining 
                their healthy ecosystems. The addition of the Point 
                Arena-Stornetta Public Lands as the first shoreline 
                unit of the monument would expand the monument to 
                include coastal bluffs and shelves, tide pools, onshore 
                dunes, coastal prairies, riverbanks, and the mouth and 
                estuary of the Garcia River. The expanded monument 
                would present exemplary opportunities for geologists, 
                archeologists, historians, and biologists to use the 
                historic and scientific objects in these lands to 
                further illuminate the evolving relationship between 
                California's abundant coastal resources and its human 
                inhabitants.

                The Point Arena-Stornetta Public Lands, in Mendocino 
                County, California, encompass a wind-swept landscape of 
                dramatic coastal beauty and significant scientific 
                importance. Like the monument's striking offshore rocks 
                and islands, these lands have been shaped by powerful 
                geologic forces. An uplifted coastal terrace that 
                underlies much of the area is part of the Gualala 
                Block, a piece of continental crust that was captured 
                by the San Andreas Fault and is now joined to the 
                Pacific Plate. The striking bluffs that form the outer 
                edge of the terrace are pierced in a few locations by 
                blowholes--openings near the bluff's edge through which 
                rising tides force gusts of salt-laced air and 
                occasional geysers of ocean water. Near some of the 
                blowholes, a creek flows over the edge of the cliff, 
                sending a delicate sheet of water into the cold waves 
                below.

                Some of California's most spectacular wildlife make use 
                of this striking landscape and its diverse vegetation 
                communities. The Point Arena-Stornetta Public Lands 
                provide important habitat for harbor seals, Steller sea 
                lions, and an occasional elephant seal, which visitors 
                can catch sight of from the vantage of the terrace's 
                western bluffs. The terrace itself supports thriving 
                native bunchgrass prairie and coastal scrub 
                communities. Generally low-lying vegetation is 
                punctuated by a rare bishop pine forest and the 
                southernmost natural example of a shore pine forest.

[[Page 14604]]

                The bunchgrass prairie is home to the endemic Behren's 
                silverspot butterfly, which is dependent on the 
                presence of the dog violet. The rare and endemic Point 
                Arena mountain beaver makes use of the diverse habitats 
                in these lands. A wide array of rare bird species also 
                uses the area's interconnected habitats, including the 
                black oystercatcher, the little willow flycatcher, the 
                yellow warbler, and the black-crowned night heron. 
                Squadrons of brown pelicans are a frequent sight, 
                gliding low over the powerful waves, while snowy 
                plovers are sometimes seen foraging along the surf 
                line.

                Water plays an essential role in sustaining and 
                connecting plant and animal life in this rugged 
                landscape. At the northern end of these lands, the 
                Garcia River ends its 44-mile journey to the Pacific. 
                The estuary formed by the meeting of these waters 
                provides both a nursery for juvenile fish and a 
                transition zone for a variety of far-roaming salmonids, 
                including central California coast coho salmon, the 
                California coastal Chinook salmon, and northern 
                California steelhead. These anadromous species depend 
                on the Garcia River estuary and its flow through the 
                Point Arena-Stornetta Public Lands to access their 
                upstream spawning habitat. Across the river, powerful 
                winds sculpt an extensive dune system, its shifting 
                sands pocketed with brackish, semi-permanent ponds. 
                Hathaway Creek, which feeds into the Garcia River, also 
                passes through the public lands and provides important 
                riparian habitat. The area's salt marshes, brackish 
                pools, and freshwater springs and seeps support an 
                array of plant and animal species, including Humboldt 
                Bay owl's clover, as well as the rare California red-
                legged frog.

                For thousands of years, people have been drawn to this 
                area's varied and plentiful natural resources. The 
                human history of the Point Arena-Stornetta Public 
                Lands, which lie within the ancestral lands of the 
                Central Pomo Indians, is written across the landscape. 
                Numerous cultural and archeological sites, including 
                middens and lithic scatters, as well as a few chert and 
                obsidian tools, have been found on these lands. Sites 
                and artifacts on these lands provide evidence of the 
                many generations of people who gathered the abundant 
                abalone, fish, mussels, tubers, and seeds and yield 
                data about prehistoric lifeways and settlements. Among 
                the oldest artifacts found in the area is obsidian 
                debitage material dated to over 4,000 years ago. 
                Additionally, these lands contain reminders of the 19th 
                century industries that played a formative role in the 
                development of Point Arena and the greater northern 
                California coastal region.

                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 
                Point Arena-Stornetta Public Lands;

                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 part of the 
                California Coastal National 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 
                within the boundaries described on the accompanying 
                map, which is attached hereto and forms a part of this 
                proclamation. Together, these objects and lands shall 
                be known as the ``Point Arena-Stornetta Unit'' of the 
                monument (unit). The reserved Federal lands and 
                interests in lands consist of approximately 1,665 
                acres, which is the smallest area compatible with the 
                proper care and management of the objects to be 
                protected.

[[Page 14605]]

                All Federal lands and interests in lands within the 
                boundaries of the unit 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.

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

                The Secretary of the Interior shall manage the unit 
                through the Bureau of Land Management as part of the 
                National Landscape Conservation System, pursuant to 
                applicable legal authorities, to protect the objects 
                identified above.

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

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

                Nothing in this proclamation shall enlarge or diminish 
                the jurisdiction or authority of the State of 
                California, including its jurisdiction and authority 
                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.

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

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