80 FR 9973 - Establishment of the Browns Canyon National Monument
Executive Office of the President
Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 36 (February 24, 2015)
Page Range
9973-9980
FR Document
2015-03972
Federal Register, Volume 80 Issue 36 (Tuesday, February 24, 2015)
[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 36 (Tuesday, February 24, 2015)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 9973-9980]
From the Federal Register Online [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-03972]
[[Page 9973]]
Vol. 80
Tuesday,
No. 36
February 24, 2015
Part IV
The President
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Proclamation 9232--Establishment of the Browns Canyon National Monument
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 36 / Tuesday, February 24, 2015 /
Presidential Documents
___________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
[[Page 9975]]
Proclamation 9232 of February 19, 2015
Establishment of the Browns Canyon National
Monument
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
In central Colorado's vibrant upper Arkansas River
valley, the rugged granite cliffs, colorful rock
outcroppings, and stunning mountain vistas of Browns
Canyon form an iconic landscape that attracts visitors
from around the world. The landscape's canyons, rivers,
and backcountry forests have provided a home for humans
for over 10,000 years, and the cultural and historical
resources found in this landscape are a testament to
the area's Native Peoples as well as the history of
more recent settlers and mining communities. The area's
unusual geology and roughly 3,000-foot range in
elevation support a diversity of plants and wildlife,
including a significant herd of bighorn sheep. Browns
Canyon harbors a wealth of scientifically significant
geological, ecological, riparian, cultural, and
historic resources, and is an important area for
studies of paleoecology, mineralogy, archaeology, and
climate change.
Following its descent between the Sawatch and Mosquito
Ranges, the Arkansas River flows through Browns Canyon
in the heart of the upper Arkansas River valley. The
Arkansas River valley is the northernmost valley in the
R[iacute]o Grande Rift system, one of the most
significant rift systems in the world and one of few
where the Earth's continental crust is actively moving
apart. The 35 million-year-old R[iacute]o Grande Rift
begins in the State of Chihuahua in Mexico and extends
northward through New Mexico and into Colorado to a
terminus in the mountains just north of Browns Canyon.
The Browns Canyon area of the upper Arkansas River
valley has long offered both a permanent source of
water and a means of transportation for its human
inhabitants. The area lies within the transition zone
between the cultural traditions of the Great Basin and
Plains peoples. As a transportation corridor where
stable sources of subsistence resources could be found,
both migrating people and permanent inhabitants left
traces of their presence in this area. Ancestors of the
Ute, Apache, Eastern Shoshone, and Comanche Indians are
known to have traversed this dramatic landscape while
hunting and gathering.
The upper Arkansas River valley was foundational to the
establishment of today's tribal configuration. It was
here that the proto-Comanche (Numuna) split into two
groups, the Comanche and the Eastern Shoshone. The
Buffalo-Eater Band (allies of the Utes) broke away from
the Eastern Shoshone in the upper Arkansas River valley
vicinity sometime between the late 1600s and early
1700s, traveling south into what is present-day New
Mexico, Texas, southern Colorado, western Kansas, and
the panhandle of Oklahoma.
While most archaeological resources in the Browns
Canyon area have not yet been surveyed or recorded, the
story of people living in the upper Arkansas River
valley is told through artifacts dating back over
10,000 years. Of the resources surveyed, there are 18
known archaeological sites within the Browns Canyon
area, including 5 prehistoric open lithic sites that
have been determined to be eligible for the National
Register of Historic Places. Primarily seasonal camps,
these sites include open campsites, culturally modified
trees, wickiups, tipi rings, chipped stone manufacture
and processing sites, a possible ceramic pottery kiln,
and rock shelter sites that
[[Page 9976]]
date to the Archaic Period. The sites range from early
Archaic Period and possibly Paleo-Indian Period (around
8,000 to 13,000 years before present), which would make
this among the earliest known sites in the region, to
the Late Archaic Period to proto-historic period
(around 3,000 years before present to the 19th century
A.D.).
European exploration of the Browns Canyon region began
when the Spanish explorer Juan de Ulibarri visited in
1706. A century later, Zebulon Pike explored the Browns
Canyon area after his failed attempt to summit what is
now known as Pike's Peak. During the late 18th and
early 19th centuries, the Spanish army patrolled the
upper Arkansas River valley as far north as Leadville
to secure the boundaries of Spanish influence and
attempt to bar access by competing traders and
explorers. Fur trappers exploited the area in the first
few decades of the 1800s. The region later became a
center for mining, including one of the United States
major historic mining districts for fluorite, a
colorful mineral with both ornamental and industrial
uses. The remnants of this area's mining history
include small, abandoned mine sites, old cabin
foundations, and nearby mining ghost towns.
Discovery of gold along the Arkansas River in the 1850s
and the 1870s silver boom in Leadville brought an
influx of people and a need for transportation. In the
1870s, stage roads carried thousands of passengers
through this region every year. In the 1880s, after a
multi-year legal and armed battle between rival rail
companies, the Denver and R[iacute]o Grande Railway
became the major transportation option for the region.
The section of railroad bed that runs through Browns
Canyon east of the Arkansas River is eligible for
listing on the National Register of Historic Places.
Even today, this same upper Arkansas River valley
remains a major transportation corridor for Chaffee
County residents and visitors, as well as an important
resource for recreational anglers and boaters, and area
ranchers and farmers. Local communities have proposed
and conducted a feasibility study for establishing the
Arkansas Stage and Rail Trail, which would serve as a
testament to this travel corridor's prehistoric and
historic significance.
The 1.6 billion-year-old Precambrian granodiorite
batholith that constitutes the Canyon is incised by
steep gulches that cut through the pink granite and
metamorphic rock. Stafford Gulch provides astounding
views of the unique Reef formation, a long and
distinctive face of exposed rock. During the
Pleistocene Epoch, glaciers covered the rugged canyons,
gulches, and mountains that awe visitors today. The
movement of these glaciers created unique topographical
features in the river valley--including glacial
cirques, flat, mesa-like terraces, and remnants of
large moraines--that are not found along other major
streams in the region. While shaping the topography,
the glaciers also filled the valley below with masses
of sediment, including the gold, silver, and semi-
precious gems that fueled the mining booms of the
1800s. These gems, including the garnets that lend
their name to Ruby Mountain in the northern part of the
Browns Canyon area, continue to interest professional
and amateur geologists.
Portions of the Browns Canyon area offer a relative
wealth of Pennsylvanian age geologic exposures of the
Minturn formation and Belden shale that include a
diverse assemblage of invertebrate fossils. These sites
represent the accumulation of shell fossils in an
ancient reef environment, and include remains of
bivalves, brachiopods, gastropods, echinoids,
nautiloids, conodonts, crinoids, bryozoans, and
vertebrates including sharks and bony fish. Many of the
fossil forms remain undescribed and will form the basis
for future paleontological research.
The topographic and geologic diversity of the Browns
Canyon area has given rise to one of the most
significant regions for biodiversity in Colorado. The
forest community incorporates a transition zone, with
semi-arid pinyon-juniper and mountain mahogany
woodlands on the lower slopes giving way to ponderosa
pine, Rocky Mountain bristlecone pine, and Douglas fir
at higher elevations. Scattered pockets of aspen,
willow, Rocky Mountain juniper, river birch, and
narrowleaf cottonwood can be found in riparian
[[Page 9977]]
areas. The Aspen Ridge area is also home to a
significant stand of aspen. The understory is home to a
variety of plant species, including blue grama grass,
mountain muhly, Indian ricegrass, Arizona fescue, blue
bunchgrass, prickly pear, cholla, yucca, isolated
pockets of alpine bluegrass, and the endemic
Brandegee's buckwheat. A stunning array of wildflowers
such as the scarlet gilia and larkspur bloom here
during the spring and summer. Near Ruby Mountain,
imperiled plant species such as Fendler's Townsend-
daisy, Fendler's false cloak-fern, livemore fiddleleaf,
and the endemic Front-Range alumroot can be found. The
plant community in this area has repeatedly evolved
during periods of climate change since the Eocene
Epoch. Geologic and climatic changes since the
Precambrian have made the area an important site for
research on geology and paleoecology as well as the
effects of climate change, wildland fire, and other
disturbances on plant and animal communities.
Some of Colorado's most emblematic animal species call
Browns Canyon home. Mountain lions, bighorn sheep, mule
deer, bobcat, red and gray fox, American black bear,
coyote, American pine marten, kangaroo rat, elk, and
several species of tree and ground squirrels can all be
found in the Browns Canyon area, which provides
essential habitat for mammals and birds alike and
attracts hunters and wildlife viewers. Raptors such as
red-tailed hawks, Swainson's hawks, golden eagles,
turkey vultures, and prairie falcons make their homes
in the rocky cliffs and prey upon the abundance of
small animals that live in this area. The area also
provides habitat suitable for peregrine falcons, which
have been identified for possible future reintroduction
here, as well as potential habitat for the threatened
Canada lynx. A stunning diversity of other bird
species, including the cliff swallow, Canada jay,
mourning dove, flicker, blue jay, wild turkey, great
horned owl, western screech owl, and saw whet owl,
attract ornithologists and bird enthusiasts alike to
these remote hills.
A number of reptile and amphibian species occur in the
area, including the sensitive boreal toad and northern
leopard frog. The Browns Canyon area represents one of
the only riparian ecosystems along the Arkansas River
that remains relatively undisturbed and contains an
intact biotic community.
The protection of the Browns Canyon area will preserve
its prehistoric and historic legacy and maintain its
diverse array of scientific resources, ensuring that
the prehistoric, historic, and scientific values remain
for the benefit of all Americans. The area also
provides world class river rafting and outdoor
recreation opportunities, including hunting, fishing,
hiking, camping, mountain biking, and horseback riding.
WHEREAS section 320301 of title 54, United States Code
(known as 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 Federal Government to be
national monuments, and to reserve as a part thereof
parcels of land, the limits of which 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
lands in and around Browns Canyon;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the
United States of America, by the authority vested in me
by section 320301 of title 54, United States Code,
hereby proclaim the objects identified above that are
situated upon lands and interests in lands owned or
controlled by the Federal Government to be the Browns
Canyon National Monument (monument) and, for the
purpose of protecting those objects, reserve as part
thereof all lands and interests in lands owned or
controlled by the Federal Government within the
boundaries described on the accompanying map, which is
attached to and forms a part of this proclamation.
These reserved Federal lands and interests in lands
encompass approximately 21,586 acres. The
[[Page 9978]]
boundaries described on the accompanying map are
confined to the smallest area compatible with the
proper care and management of the objects to be
protected.
All Federal lands and interests in lands within the
boundaries described in the accompanying map are hereby
appropriated and withdrawn from all forms of entry,
location, selection, sale, leasing, or other
disposition under the public land laws or laws
applicable to the U.S. Forest Service, including
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.
The establishment of the monument is subject to valid
existing rights. Lands and interests in lands not owned
or controlled by the Federal Government within the
boundaries described on the accompanying map shall be
reserved as a part of the monument, and objects
identified above that are situated upon those lands and
interests in lands shall be part of the monument, upon
acquisition of ownership or control by the Federal
Government.
The Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of
Agriculture (Secretaries) shall manage the monument
through the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the
U.S. Forest Service (USFS), pursuant to their
respective applicable legal authorities, to implement
the purposes of this proclamation. The USFS shall
manage that portion of the monument within the
boundaries of the National Forest System (NFS), and the
BLM shall manage the remainder of the monument. The
lands administered by the BLM shall be managed as a
unit of the National Landscape Conservation System,
pursuant to applicable legal authorities, including, as
applicable, the provisions of section 603 of the
Federal Land Policy and Management Act (43 U.S.C. 1782)
governing the management of wilderness study areas. The
lands administered by the USFS shall be managed as part
of the Pike and San Isabel National Forests and
Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands.
For purposes of protecting and restoring the objects
identified above, the Secretaries shall jointly prepare
a management plan for the monument and shall promulgate
such regulations for its management as deemed
appropriate. In developing any management plans and any
management rules and regulations governing NFS lands
within the monument, the Secretary of Agriculture,
through the USFS, shall consult with the Secretary of
the Interior through the BLM. The Secretaries shall
provide for public involvement in the development of
the management plan including, but not limited to,
consultation with tribal, State, and local governments.
In the development and implementation of the management
plan, the Secretaries shall maximize opportunities,
pursuant to applicable legal authorities, for shared
resources, operational efficiency, and cooperation.
Except for emergency or authorized administrative
purposes, motorized and mechanized vehicle use in the
monument shall be allowed only on roads and trails
designated for such use, consistent with the care and
management of the objects identified above. After the
date of this proclamation, new roads or trails may only
be designated for motorized vehicle use in areas west
of the Arkansas River and at the Ruby Mountain
Recreation Site and then only as necessary to provide
reasonable river or campground access, consistent with
the applicable management plan. Forest Road 184 may be
realigned or improved only if for the care and
management of the objects identified above or as
necessary for public safety.
Nothing in this proclamation affects or shall be deemed
to preclude the Secretaries from reissuing existing
authorizations or agreements for the cooperative
administration of the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation
Area. New or modified authorizations or agreements for
such purpose may be issued, consistent with the care
and management of the objects identified above. The
Secretaries also may authorize and reauthorize
commercial recreational services within the monument,
including outfitting and guiding, consistent with the
care and management of the objects identified above.
[[Page 9979]]
Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to affect
the operation or use of the existing railroad corridor
as a railroad right of way pursuant to valid existing
rights or for recreational purposes consistent with the
care and management of the objects identified above.
Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to enlarge
or diminish the rights of any Indian tribe. The
Secretaries shall, to the maximum extent permitted by
law and in consultation with Indian tribes, ensure the
protection of Indian sacred sites and traditional
cultural properties in the monument and provide access
by members of Indian tribes for traditional cultural
and customary uses, consistent with the American Indian
Religious Freedom Act (42 U.S.C. 1996) and Executive
Order 13007 of May 24, 1996 (Indian Sacred Sites).
Laws, regulations, and policies followed by the BLM or
the USFS in issuing and administering grazing permits
or leases on lands under their jurisdiction shall
continue to apply with regard to the lands in the
monument, consistent with the care and management of
the objects identified above.
This proclamation does not alter or affect the valid
existing water rights of any party, including the
United States. This proclamation does not reserve water
as a matter of Federal law, and the inclusion of the
land underlying the Arkansas River in the monument
shall not be construed to reserve such a right. This
proclamation does not alter or affect agreements
governing the management and administration of Arkansas
River flows, including the Voluntary Flow Management
Program.
Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to enlarge
or diminish the jurisdiction of the State of Colorado,
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 the monument and not to locate or settle upon any of
the lands thereof.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
nineteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord two
thousand fifteen, and of the Independence of the United
States of America the two hundred and thirty-ninth.
(Presidential Sig.)
[[Page 9980]]
Billing code 3295-F5
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TD24FE15.007
[FR Doc. 2015-03972
Filed 2-23-15; 11:15 a.m.]
Billing code 4310-C