Administration of William J. Clinton, 2000 / June 9 1325

permanently protecting in the monument. The ironwood-bursage habitat in the Silver Therefore, I am directing you to manage the Bell Mountains is associated with more than central area to protect these important values 674 species, including 64 mammalian and 57 where practical. I further direct you to con- bird species. Within the , sult with the Secretary of the Interior on how Ragged Top Mountain contains the greatest best to permanently protect these objects, in- richness of species. The monument is home cluding the possibility of adding lands to the to species federally listed as threatened or monument as they are remediated. endangered, including the Nichols turk’s William J. Clinton head cactus and the lesser long-nosed bat, and contains historic and potential habitat for the cactus ferruginous pygmy-owl. The Proclamation 7320—Establishment desert bighorn sheep in the monument may of the Ironwood Forest National be the last viable population indigenous to Monument the Tucson basin. June 9, 2000 In addition to the biological and geological resources, the area holds abundant rock art By the President of the United States sites and other archeological objects of sci- of America entific interest. Humans have inhabited the area for more than 5,000 years. More than A Proclamation 200 sites from the prehistoric Hohokam pe- The landscape of the Ironwood Forest Na- riod (600 A.D. to 1450 A.D.) have been re- tional Monument is swathed with the rich, corded in the area. Two areas within the drought-adapted vegetation of the Sonoran monument have been listed on the National Desert. The monument contains objects of Register of Historic Places, the Los Robles scientific interest throughout its desert envi- Archeological District and the Cocoraque ronment. Stands of ironwood, palo verde, Butte Archeological District. The archeo- and blanket the monument floor be- logical artifacts include rhyolite and brown neath the rugged mountain ranges, including chert chipped stone, plain and decorated ce- the . Ragged Top ramics, and worked shell from the Gulf of Mountain is a biological and geological crown California. The area also contains the rem- jewel amid the depositional plains in the nants of the Mission Santa Ana, the last mis- monument. sion constructed in Pimeria Alta. The monument presents a quintessential Section 2 of the Act of June 8, 1906 (34 view of the Sonoran Desert with ancient leg- Stat. 225, 16 U.S.C. 431), authorizes the ume and cactus forests. The geologic and President, in his discretion, to declare by topographic variability of the monument con- public proclamation historic landmarks, his- tributes to the area’s high biological diversity. toric and prehistoric structures, and other Ironwoods, which can live in excess of 800 objects of historic or scientific interest that years, generate a chain of influences on asso- are situated upon the lands owned or con- ciated understory plants, affecting their dis- trolled by the Government of the United persal, germination, establishment, and rates States to be national monuments, and to re- of growth. Ironwood is the dominant nurse serve as a part thereof parcels of land, the plant in this region, and the Silver Bell limits of which in all cases shall be confined Mountains support the highest density of to the smallest area compatible with the ironwood trees recorded in the Sonoran proper care and management of the objects Desert. Ironwood trees provide, among other to be protected. things, roosting sites for hawks and owls, for- Whereas it appears that it would be in age for desert bighorn sheep, protection for the public interest to reserve such lands as saguaro against freezing, burrows for tor- a national monument to be known as the toises, flowers for native bees, dense canopy Ironwood Forest National Monument: for nesting of white-winged doves and other Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, birds, and protection against sunburn for President of the United States of America, night blooming cereus. by the authority vested in me by section 2

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of the Act of June 8, 1906 (34 Stat. 225, 16 This proclamation does not reserve water U.S.C. 431), do proclaim that there are here- as a matter of Federal law. Nothing in this by set apart and reserved as the Ironwood reservation shall be construed as a relin- Forest National Monument, for the purpose quishment or reduction of any water use or of protecting the objects identified above, all rights reserved or appropriated by the United lands and interests in lands owned or con- States on or before the date of this proclama- trolled by the United States within the tion. The Bureau of Land Management shall boundaries of the area described on the map work with appropriate State authorities to en- entitled ‘‘Ironwood Forest National Monu- sure that any water resources needed for ment’’ attached to and forming a part of this monument purposes are available. proclamation. The Federal land and interests Nothing in this proclamation shall be in land reserved consist of approximately deemed to enlarge or diminish the rights of 128,917 acres, which is the smallest area any Indian tribe. compatible with the proper care and man- Laws, regulations, and policies followed by agement of the objects to be protected. the Bureau of Land Management in issuing All Federal lands and interests in lands and administering grazing permits or leases within the boundaries of this monument are on all lands under its jurisdiction shall con- hereby appropriated and withdrawn from all tinue to apply with regard to the lands in forms of entry, location, selection, sale, or the monument. leasing or other disposition under the public Nothing in this proclamation shall be land laws, including but not limited to with- deemed to revoke any existing withdrawal, drawal from location, entry, and patent under reservation, or appropriation; however, the the mining laws, and from disposition under national monument shall be the dominant all laws relating to mineral and geothermal reservation. leasing, other than by exchange that furthers Warning is hereby given to all unauthor- the protective purposes of the monument. ized persons not to appropriate, injure, de- stroy, or remove any feature of this monu- For the purpose of protecting the objects ment and not to locate or settle upon any identified above, the Secretary of the Interior of the lands thereof. shall prohibit all motorized and mechanized In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set vehicle use off road, except for emergency my hand this ninth day of June, in the year or authorized administrative purposes. of our Lord two thousand, and of the Inde- Lands and interests in lands within the pendence of the United States of America proposed monument not owned by the the two hundred and twenty-fourth. United States shall be reserved as a part of the monument upon acquisition of title William J. Clinton thereto by the United States. The Secretary of the Interior shall manage [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, the monument through the Bureau of Land 10:47 a.m., June 12, 2000] Management, pursuant to applicable legal NOTE: This proclamation will be published in the authorities, to implement the purposes of this Federal Register on June 13. proclamation. The Secretary of the Interior shall prepare a transportation plan that addresses the ac- tions, including road closures or travel re- strictions, necessary to protect the objects Digest of Other identified in this proclamation. White House Announcements The establishment of this monument is subject to valid existing rights. Nothing in this proclamation shall be The following list includes the President’s public schedule and other items of general interest an- deemed to enlarge or diminish the jurisdic- nounced by the Office of the Press Secretary and tion of the State of with respect to not included elsewhere in this issue. fish and wildlife management.

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