[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 240 (Thursday, December 14, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Page 75271]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-9692]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of National Natural Landmark Designation for Irvine Ranch, 
Orange County, CA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Public notice of National Natural Landmark Designation.

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SUMMARY: The Secretary of the Interior has determined that an area of 
36,398 acres within the Irvine Ranch in Orange County, California meets 
the criteria for national significance and has designated this site a 
National Natural Landmark.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steve Gibbons at 360-856-5700, 
extension 306.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On October 6, 2006, Interior Secretary Dirk 
Kempthorne designated a 36,398-acre area within Irvine Ranch in Orange 
County, California, as a National Natural Landmark. This area is 
significant for its Mediterranean shrublands, including extensive areas 
of chaparral and coastal sage scrub associations. It is one of the 
largest areas of this association remaining in the South Pacific Border 
Province. The Irvine Ranch NNL also represents a remarkably unique, 
long time-range stratigraphic succession that shows the linkage between 
tectonic framework, provenances, sedimentology, paleoenvironments, 
paleontology, paleoclimate, landscape evolution and geologic history. 
In this regard it represents one of the most critical time intervals 
and locations in the geologic history of the South Pacific Border 
Province.
    The Secretary of the Interior established the National Natural 
Landmarks Program in 1962 under the authority of the Historic Sites Act 
of 1935 (16 U.S.C. 461 et seq.). The National Park Service (NPS) 
manages this program using regulations found at 36 CFR Part 62. 
Potential natural landmarks are identified in studies by the NPS and 
from other sources, evaluated by expert natural scientists, and, if 
determined nationally significant, designated as landmarks by the 
Secretary of the Interior. When designated, a landmark is included in 
the National Registry of Natural Landmarks, which currently lists 581 
National Natural Landmarks nationwide. Of the 581 listed landmarks, 
half are administered solely by public agencies, i.e., Federal, State, 
county or municipal governments. Nearly one-third are owned solely by 
private parties. The remaining natural landmarks are owned or 
administered by a mixture of public and private owners. Owner 
permission must be obtained to visit natural landmarks that are 
privately owned or not managed for public access. Designation does not 
infer a right of public access.
    National natural landmark designation is not a land withdrawal, 
does not change the ownership of an area and does not dictate activity. 
However, Federal agencies should consider impacts to the unique 
properties of these nationally significant areas in carrying out their 
responsibilities under the National Environmental Policy Act (42 U.S.C. 
4321 et seq.). Designation could result in State or local planning or 
land use implications. National Natural Landmark preservation is made 
possible by the long-term, voluntary commitments of public and private 
owners to protect the outstanding values of the areas. Information on 
the National Natural Landmarks Program can be found on the Internet at 
www.nature.nps.gov/nnl.

    Dated: December 7, 2006.
Margaret A. Brooks,
National Natural Landmarks Program Manager.
[FR Doc. 06-9692 Filed 12-13-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-M