Compilation of Weekly Presidential Documents - January 17, 2000 - Proclamation 7263--establishment of the Agua Fria National Monument

� Proclamation 7263-Establishment of the Agua Fria National Monument

January 11, 2000

 

 

� By the President of the United States of America

 

 

� A Proclamation

 

 

� The windswept, grassy mesas and formidable canyons of Agua Fria

National Monument embrace an extraordinary array of scientific and

historic resources. The ancient ruins within the monument, with

their breathtaking vistas and spectacular petroglyphs, provide a

link to the past, offering insights into the lives of the peoples

who once inhabited this part of the desert Southwest. The area's

architectural features and artifacts are tangible objects that can

help researchers reconstruct the human past. Such objects and, more

importantly, the spatial relationships among them, provide

outstanding opportunities for archeologists to study the way humans

interacted with one another, neighboring groups, and with the

environment that sustained them in prehistoric times.

 

 

� The monument contains one of the most significant systems of later

prehistoric sites in the American Southwest. Between A.D. 1250 and

1450, its pueblo communities were populated by up to several

thousand people. During this time, many dwelling locations in the

Southwest were abandoned and groups became aggregated in a

relatively small number of densely populated areas. The monument

encompasses one of the best examples of these areas, containing

important archeological evidence that is crucial to understanding

the cultural, social, and economic processes that accompanied this

period of significant change.

 

 

� At least 450 prehistoric sites are known to exist within the

monument and there are likely many more. There are at least four

major settlements within the area, including Pueblo La Plata, Pueblo

Pato, the Baby Canyon Ruin group, and the Lousy Canyon group. These

consist of clusters of stonemasonry pueblos, some containing at

least 100 rooms. These settlements are typically situated at the

edges of steep canyons, and offer a panorama of ruins, distinctive

rock art panels, and visually spectacular settings.

 

 

� Many intact petroglyph sites within the monument contain rock art

symbols pecked into the surfaces of boulders and cliff faces. The

sites range from single designs on boulders to cliffs covered with

hundreds of geometric and abstract symbols. Some of the most

impressive sites are associated with major pueblos, such as Pueblo

Pato.

 

 

� The monument holds an extraordinary record of prehistoric

agricultural features, including extensive terraces bounded by lines

of rocks and other types of landscape modifications. The

agricultural areas, as well as other sites, reflect the skills of

ancient residents at producing and obtaining food supplies

sufficient to sustain a population of several thousand people.

 

 

� The monument also contains historic sites representing early

Anglo-American history through the 19th century, including remnants

of Basque sheep camps, historic mining features, and military

activities.

 

 

� In addition to its rich record of human history, the monument

contains other objects of scientific interest. This expansive mosaic

of semi-desert grassland, cut by ribbons of valuable riparian

forest, is an outstanding biological resource. The diversity of

vegetative communities, topographical features, and relative

availability of water provide habitat for a wide array of sensitive

wildlife species, including the lowland leopard frog, the Mexican

garter snake, the common black hawk, and the desert tortoise. Other

wildlife is abundant and diverse, including pronghorn, mule deer,

and white-tail deer. Javelina, mountain lions, small mammals,

reptiles, amphibians, fish, and neotropical migratory birds also

inhabit the area, Elk and black bear are present, but less abundant.

Four species of native fish, including the longfin dace, the Gila

mountain sucker, the Gila chub, and the speckled dace, exist in the

Agua Fria River and its tributaries.

 

 

� 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 Agua

Fria 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 Agua Fria 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 Agua Fria National Monument" attached to and forming a part

of this proclamation. The Federal land and interests in land

reserved consist of approximately 71,100 acres, which is the

smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the

objects to be protected.

 

 

� For the purpose of protecting the objects identified above, all

motorized and mechanized vehicle use off road will be prohibited,

except for emergency or authorized administrative purposes.

 

 

� Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to enlarge or diminish

the jurisdiction of the State of Arizona with respect to fish and

wildlife management.

 

 

� The establishment of this monument is subject to valid existing

rights.

 

 

� 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, leasing, 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 and geothermal

leasing, other than by exchange that furthers the protective

purposes of the monument. 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.

 

 

� There is hereby reserved, as of the date of this proclamation and

subject to valid existing rights, a quantity of water sufficient to

fulfill the purposes for which this monument is established. Nothing

in this reservation shall be construed as a relinquishment or

reduction of any water use or rights reserved orappropriated by the

United States on or before the date of 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.

 

 

� Laws, regulations, and policies followed by the Bureau of Land

Management in issuing and administering grazing 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 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.

 

 

� In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this eleventh day

of January, in the year of our Lord two thousand, and of the

independence of the United States of America the two hundred and

twenty-fourth.

 

 

� William J. Clinton

 

 

� [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 10:45 a.m., lanuary

14.20001

 

 

� NOTE: This proclamation will be published in the Federal Register

on January 18.

 

 

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