[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 114 (Tuesday, June 13, 2000)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 37243-37247]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-15109]



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Part V





The President





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Proclamation 7317--Establishment of the Canyons of the Ancients 
National Monument



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



Proclamation 7319--Establishment of the Hanford Reach National Monument



Proclamation 7320--Establishment of the Ironwood Forest National 
Monument


                        Presidential Documents 



Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 114 / Tuesday, June 13, 2000 / 
Presidential Documents

___________________________________________________________________

Title 3--
The President

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                Proclamation 7317 of June 9, 2000

                
Establishment of the Canyons of the Ancients 
                National Monument

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Containing the highest known density of archaeological 
                sites in the Nation, the Canyons of the Ancients 
                National Monument holds evidence of cultures and 
                traditions spanning thousands of years. This area, with 
                its intertwined natural and cultural resources, is a 
                rugged landscape, a quality that greatly contributes to 
                the protection of its scientific and historic objects. 
                The monument offers an unparalleled opportunity to 
                observe, study, and experience how cultures lived and 
                adapted over time in the American Southwest.

                The complex landscape and remarkable cultural resources 
                of the Canyons of the Ancients National Monument have 
                been a focal point for archaeological interest for over 
                125 years. Archaeological and historic objects such as 
                cliff dwellings, villages, great kivas, shrines, sacred 
                springs, agricultural fields, check dams, reservoirs, 
                rock art sites, and sweat lodges are spread across the 
                landscape. More than five thousand of these 
                archaeologically important sites have been recorded, 
                and thousands more await documentation and study. The 
                Mockingbird Mesa area has over forty sites per square 
                mile, and several canyons in that area hold more than 
                three hundred sites per square mile.

                People have lived and labored to survive among these 
                canyons and mesas for thousands of years, from the 
                earliest known hunters crossing the area 10,000 years 
                ago or more, through Ancestral Puebloan farmers, to the 
                Ute, Navajo, and European settlers whose descendants 
                still call this area home. There is scattered evidence 
                that Paleo-Indians used the region on a sporadic basis 
                for hunting and gathering until around 7500 B.C. During 
                the Archaic period, generally covering the next six 
                thousand years, occupation of the Four Corners area was 
                dominated by hunters and gatherers.

                By about 1500 B.C., the more sedentary Basketmakers 
                spread over the landscape. As Ancestral Northern 
                Puebloan people occupied the area around 750 A.D., 
                farming began to blossom, and continued through about 
                1300 A.D., as the area became part of a much larger 
                prehistoric cultural region that included Mesa Verde to 
                the southeast. Year-round villages were established, 
                originally consisting of pit house dwellings, and later 
                evolving to well-recognized cliff-dwellings. Many 
                archaeologists now believe that throughout this time 
                span, the Ancestral Northern Puebloan people 
                periodically aggregated into larger communities and 
                dispersed into smaller community units. Specifically, 
                during Pueblo I (about 700-900 A.D.) the occupation and 
                site density in the monument area increased. Dwellings 
                tended to be small, with three or four rooms. Then, 
                during Pueblo II (about 900-1150 A.D.), settlements 
                were diminished and highly dispersed. Late in Pueblo II 
                and in early Pueblo III, around 1150 A.D., the size and 
                number of settlements again increased and residential 
                clustering began. Later pueblos were larger multi-
                storied masonry dwellings with forty to fifty rooms. 
                For the remainder of Pueblo III (1150-1300 A.D.), major 
                aggregation occurred in the monument, typically at 
                large sites at the heads of canyons. One of these sites 
                includes remains of about 420 rooms, 90 kivas, a great 
                kiva, and a plaza, covering more than ten acres in all. 
                These villages were wrapped

[[Page 37244]]

                around the upper reaches of canyons and spread down 
                onto talus slopes, enclosed year-round springs and 
                reservoirs, and included low, defensive walls. The 
                changes in architecture and site planning reflected a 
                shift from independent households to a more communal 
                lifestyle.

                Farming during the Puebloan period was affected by 
                population growth and changing climate and 
                precipitation patterns. As the population grew, the 
                Ancestral Puebloans expanded into increasingly marginal 
                areas. Natural resources were compromised and poor soil 
                and growing conditions made survival increasingly 
                difficult. When dry conditions persisted, Pueblo 
                communities moved to the south, southwest, and 
                southeast, where descendants of these Ancestral 
                Puebloan peoples live today.

                Soon after the Ancestral Puebloans left the monument 
                area, the nomadic Ute and Navajo took advantage of the 
                natural diversity found in the variable topography by 
                moving to lower areas, including the monument's mesas 
                and canyons, during the cooler seasons. A small number 
                of forked stick hogans, brush shelters, and wickiups 
                are the most obvious remnants of this period of 
                occupation.

                The natural resources and spectacular land forms of the 
                monument help explain why past and present cultures 
                have chosen to live in the area. The geology of the 
                monument evokes the very essence of the American 
                Southwest. Structurally part of the Paradox Basin, from 
                a distance the landscape looks deceptively benign. From 
                the McElmo Dome in the southern part of the monument, 
                the land slopes gently to the north, giving no 
                indication of its true character. Once inside the area, 
                however, the geology becomes more rugged and dissected. 
                Rising sharply to the north of McElmo Creek, the McElmo 
                Dome itself is buttressed by sheer sandstone cliffs, 
                with mesa tops rimmed by caprock, and deeply incised 
                canyons.

                The monument is home to a wide variety of wildlife 
                species, including unique herpetological resources. 
                Crucial habitat for the Mesa Verde nightsnake, long-
                nosed leopard lizard, and twin-spotted spiny lizard can 
                be found within the monument in the area north of 
                Yellow Jacket Canyon. Peregrine falcons have been 
                observed in the area, as have golden eagles, American 
                kestrels, red-tailed hawks, and northern harriers. Game 
                birds like Gambel's quail and mourning dove are found 
                throughout the monument both in dry, upland habitats, 
                and in lush riparian habitat along the canyon bottoms.

                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 Canyons of the Ancients 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 Canyons of the Ancients 
                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 ``Canyons of the Ancients National Monument'' 
                attached to and forming a part of this proclamation. 
                The Federal land and interests in land reserved consist 
                of approximately 164,000 acres, which is the smallest 
                area compatible with the proper care and management of 
                the objects to be protected.

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                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 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 leasing, 
                other than by exchange that furthers the protective 
                purposes of the monument, and except for oil and gas 
                leasing as prescribed herein.

                For the purpose of protecting the objects identified 
                above, the Secretary of the Interior shall prohibit all 
                motorized and mechanized vehicle use off 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.

                Because most of the Federal lands have already been 
                leased for oil and gas, which includes carbon dioxide, 
                and development is already occurring, the monument 
                shall remain open to oil and gas leasing and 
                development; provided, the Secretary of the Interior 
                shall manage the development, subject to valid existing 
                rights, so as not to create any new impacts that 
                interfere with the proper care and management of the 
                objects protected by this proclamation; and provided 
                further, the Secretary may issue new leases only for 
                the purpose of promoting conservation of oil and gas 
                resources in any common reservoir now being produced 
                under existing leases, or to protect against drainage.

                The Secretary of the Interior shall prepare a 
                transportation plan 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 manage the monument 
                through the Bureau of Land Management, pursuant to 
                applicable legal authorities, to implement the purposes 
                of this 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 Colorado 
                with respect to fish and wildlife management.

                This proclamation does not reserve water as a matter of 
                Federal law. 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 
                Bureau of Land Management shall work with appropriate 
                State authorities to ensure that any water resources 
                needed for monument purposes are available.

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

                Laws, regulations, and policies followed by the Bureau 
                of Land Management in issuing and administering grazing 
                permits or leases on all lands under its jurisdiction 
                shall continue to apply with regard to the lands in the 
                monument.

                Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to affect 
                the management of Hovenweep National Monument by the 
                National Park Service (Proclamation 1654 of March 2, 
                1923, Proclamation 2924 of May 1, 1951, and 
                Proclamation 2998 of November 26, 1952).

                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.

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                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.

                    (Presidential Sig.)<Clinton1><Clinton2>

Billing code 3195-01-P


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[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TD13JN00.001


[FR Doc. 00-15109
Filed 6-12-00; 10:47 am]

Billing code 3195-01-C