81 FR 59121 - Establishment of the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument

Executive Office of the President

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 167 (August 29, 2016)

Page Range		59121-59128
FR Document		2016-20786

Federal Register, Volume 81 Issue 167 (Monday, August 29, 2016)

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 167 (Monday, August 29, 2016)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 59121-59128]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-20786]




                        Presidential Documents 



Federal Register / Vol. 81 , No. 167 / Monday, August 29, 2016 / 
Presidential Documents

___________________________________________________________________

Title 3--
The President

[[Page 59121]]

                Proclamation 9476 of August 24, 2016

                
Establishment of the Katahdin Woods and Waters 
                National Monument

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                In north central Maine lies an area of the North Woods 
                known in recent years as the Katahdin Woods and Waters 
                Recreation Area (Katahdin Woods and Waters), 
                approximately 87,500 acres within a larger landscape 
                already conserved by public and private efforts 
                starting a century ago. Katahdin Woods and Waters 
                contains a significant piece of this extraordinary 
                natural and cultural landscape: the mountains, woods, 
                and waters east of Baxter State Park (home of Mount 
                Katahdin, the northern terminus of the Appalachian 
                Trail), where the East Branch of the Penobscot River 
                and its tributaries, including the Wassataquoik Stream 
                and the Seboeis River, run freely. Since the glaciers 
                retreated 12,000 years ago, these waterways and 
                associated resources--the scenery, geology, flora and 
                fauna, night skies, and more--have attracted people to 
                this area. Native Americans still cherish these 
                resources. Lumberjacks, river drivers, and timber 
                owners have earned their livings here. Artists, 
                authors, scientists, conservationists, recreationists, 
                and others have drawn knowledge and inspiration from 
                this landscape.

                Katahdin Woods and Waters contains objects of 
                significant scientific and historic interest. For some 
                11,000 years, Native peoples have inhabited the area, 
                depending on its waterways and woods for sustenance. 
                They traveled during the year from the upper reaches of 
                the East Branch of the Penobscot River and its 
                tributaries to coastal destinations like Frenchman and 
                Penobscot Bays. Native peoples have traditionally used 
                the rivers as a vast transportation network, seasonally 
                searching for food, furs, medicines, and many other 
                resources. Based on the results of archeological 
                research performed in nearby areas, researchers believe 
                that much of the archeological record of this long 
                Native American presence in Katahdin Woods and Waters 
                remains to be discovered, creating significant 
                opportunity for scientific investigation. What is known 
                is that the Wabanaki people, in particular the 
                Penobscot Indian Nation, consider the Penobscot River 
                (including the East Branch watershed) a centerpiece of 
                their culture and spiritual values.

                The first documented Euro-American exploration of the 
                Katahdin region dates to a 1793 survey commissioned by 
                the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. After Maine achieved 
                statehood in 1820, Major Joseph Treat, guided by John 
                Neptune of the Penobscot Tribe, produced the first 
                detailed maps of the region. The Maine Boundary 
                Commission authorized a survey of the new State in 
                1825, for which surveyor Joseph C. Norris, Sr., and his 
                son established the ``Monument Line,'' which runs 
                through Katahdin Woods and Waters and serves as the 
                State's east-west baseline from which township 
                boundaries are drawn.

                By the early 19th century until the late 20th century, 
                logging was a way of life throughout the area, as 
                exemplified by the history of logging along the 
                Wassataquoik Stream. To access the upstream forests, a 
                tote road was built on the Wassataquoik's north bank 
                around 1841; traces of the old road can still be seen 
                in places. The earliest loggers felled enormous white 
                pines and then ``drove'' them down the tumultuous 
                stream. Beginning in the 1880s, after the choice pines 
                were gone, the loggers switched to spruce

[[Page 59122]]

                long logs, and built camps, depots, and many dams on 
                the Wassataquoik to control its flow for the log 
                drives. Remnants of the Dacey and Robar Dams have been 
                found, and discovery of more logging remnants and 
                historic artifacts is likely. Log driving was 
                dangerous, and many men died on the river and were 
                buried nearby. A large fire in 1884 damaged logging 
                operations on the Wassataquoik, and an even larger fire 
                in 1903 put an end to the long log operations. Pulpwood 
                operations resumed in 1910 but ceased in 1915. Other 
                streams, like Sandy Stream, have similar logging 
                histories.

                The East Branch of the Penobscot River and its major 
                tributaries served as a thoroughfare for huge log 
                drives headed toward Bangor. Log drives ended (based 
                primarily on environmental concerns) in the 1970s, 
                after which the timber companies relied on trucking and 
                a network of private roads they started to build in the 
                1950s.

                In the 1800s, the infrastructure that developed to 
                support the logging industry also drew hunters, 
                anglers, and hikers to the area. In the 1830s, within 2 
                miles of one another on the eastern side of the 
                Penobscot East Branch, William Hunt and Hiram Dacey 
                established farms to serve loggers, which soon also 
                served recreationists, scientists, and others who 
                wanted to explore the Katahdin region or climb its 
                mountains. Just across the East Branch from the Hunt 
                and Dacey Farms (the latter now the site of Lunksoos 
                Camps) lies the entrance to the Wassataquoik Stream. In 
                1848, the Reverend Marcus Keep established what is 
                still called Keep Path, running along the Wassataquoik 
                to Katahdin Lake and on to Mount Katahdin. From that 
                time until the end of the 19th century, the favored 
                entryway to the Katahdin region started on the east 
                side of Mount Katahdin with a visit to Hunt or Dacey 
                Farm, then crossed the East Branch and ascended the 
                valley of the Wassataquoik Stream.

                Henry David Thoreau--who made the ``Maine Woods'' 
                famous through his publications--approached from the 
                headwaters of the East Branch to the north. With his 
                Penobscot guide Joe Polis and companion Edward Hoar in 
                1857, on his last and longest trip to the area, he 
                paddled past Dacey Farm with just a brief stop at Hunt 
                Farm. He wrote about his two nights in the Katahdin 
                Woods and Waters area--the first at what he named the 
                ``Checkerberry-tea camp,'' near the oxbow just upriver 
                from Stair Falls, and the second on the river between 
                Dacey and Hunt Farms where he drank hemlock tea.

                During his 1879 Maine trip on which he summited Mount 
                Katahdin, Theodore Roosevelt followed the route across 
                the East Branch and up the Wassataquoik. As Roosevelt 
                later recalled, he lost one of his hiking boots 
                crossing the Wassataquoik but, undaunted, completed the 
                challenging trek in moccasins. Many including Roosevelt 
                himself have observed that his several trips to the 
                Katahdin region in the late 1870s had a significant 
                impact on his life, as he overcame longstanding health 
                problems, gained strength and stamina, experienced the 
                wonder of nature and the desire to conserve it, and 
                made friends for life from the Maine Woods.

                Native Mainer Percival P. Baxter, too, followed this 
                route on the 1920 trip that solidified his 
                determination to create a large park from this 
                landscape. Burton Howe, a Patten lumberman, organized 
                this trip of Maine notables, who stayed at Lunksoos 
                Camps before their ascent via the established route. As 
                a State representative, senator, and governor, Baxter 
                had proposed legislation to create a Mount Katahdin 
                park in commemoration of the State's centennial, and 
                the 1920 trip cemented his profound appreciation of the 
                landscape. Spurned by the Maine legislature, Baxter 
                devoted his life to acquiring 28 parcels of land, 
                largely from timber companies who had heavily logged 
                them, and donated them to the State with management 
                instructions and an endowment, resulting in the 
                establishment of Baxter State Park.

                Artists and photographers have left indelible images of 
                their time spent in the area. In 1832, John James 
                Audubon canoed the East Branch and sketched natural 
                features for his masterpiece Birds of America. Frederic

[[Page 59123]]

                Edwin Church, the preeminent landscape artist of the 
                Hudson River School, first visited the area in the 
                1850s, and in 1877 invited his landscape-painter 
                colleagues to join him on a well-publicized expedition 
                from Hunt Farm up the Wassataquoik Stream to capture 
                varied views of Mount Katahdin and environs. In the 
                early 1900s, George H. Hallowell painted and 
                photographed the log drives on the Wassataquoik Stream, 
                and Carl Sprinchorn painted logging activities on the 
                Seboeis River.

                Geologists were among the earliest scientists to visit 
                the area. While surveys were done in the 1800s, in-
                depth geological research and mapping of the area did 
                not begin until the 1950s. These mid-20th century 
                geologists found bedrock spanning over 150 million 
                years of the Paleozoic era, revealing a remarkably 
                complete exposure of Paleozoic rock strata with well-
                preserved fossils. The lands west of the Penobscot East 
                Branch are dominated by volcanic and granitic rock from 
                the Devonian period, mostly Katahdin Granite but also 
                Traveler Rhyolite, a light-colored volcanic rock that 
                is similar in composition to granite. The oldest rock 
                in Katahdin Woods and Waters, a light greenish-gray 
                quartzite interlayered with slate from the early 
                Cambrian period (over 500 million years ago), can be 
                observed along the riverbank of the Penobscot East 
                Branch for over 1,000 feet at the Grand Pitch (a river 
                rapid). This rock is part of the Weeksboro-Lunksoos 
                Lake anticline, a broad upward fold of rocks originally 
                deposited horizontally, which is evidence of mountain-
                building tectonics. The fold continues north along the 
                river and then turns northeast toward Shin Pond, 
                exposing successive bands of younger Paleozoic rock of 
                both volcanic and sedimentary origin on either side of 
                the structure.

                Various formations in the area provide striking visual 
                evidence of marine waters in Katahdin Woods and Waters 
                during the geologic periods that immediately followed 
                the Cambrian period. For example, Owen Brook limestone, 
                an outcrop of calcareous bedrock west of the Penobscot 
                East Branch containing fossil brachiopods, is of coral 
                reef origin. Pillow lavas, such as those near the 
                summit of Lunksoos Mountain, were produced by 
                underwater eruptions. Haskell Rock, the 20-foot-tall 
                pillar in the midst of a Penobscot East Branch rapid, 
                is conglomerate bedrock that suggests a time of dynamic 
                transition from volcanic islands to an ocean with 
                underwater sedimentation. This conglomerate, deposited 
                about 450 million years ago, contains volcanic and 
                sedimentary stones of various sizes, and occurs in 
                outcrops and boulders in several locations.

                The area's geology also provides prominent evidence of 
                large and powerful earth-changing events. During the 
                Paleozoic era (541 to 252 million years ago), mountain-
                building events contributed to the rise of the 
                primordial Appalachian Mountain range and the 
                amalgamation of the supercontinent Pangaea. Following 
                the last mountain-building event, significant erosion 
                reshaped the topography, helping to expose the cores of 
                volcanoes, the Katahdin pluton, and the structure of 
                the previous mountain-building events. About 200 
                million years ago, Pangaea began splitting apart as the 
                Atlantic Ocean appeared and North America, Europe, and 
                Africa formed. Today, the International Appalachian 
                Trail, a long-distance hiking trail, seeks to follow 
                the ancestral Appalachian-Caledonian Mountains on both 
                sides of the Atlantic, starting at Katahdin Lake in 
                Baxter State Park near the northern end of the domestic 
                Appalachian Trail, traversing Katahdin Woods and Waters 
                for about 30 miles, and proceeding through Canada for 
                resumption across the Atlantic.

                In more recent geological history, during the 
                approximately 2.5 million year-long Pleistocene epoch 
                that ended approximately 12,000 years ago, repeated 
                glaciations covered the region, eroding bedrock and 
                shaping the modern landscape. Glacial till from the 
                most recent glaciations underlies much of the area's 
                soil, moraines occur in several locations, and glacial 
                erratics are common. Prominent eskers--long, snaking 
                ridges of sand and gravel deposited by glacial 
                meltwater--occur along most of the Penobscot East 
                Branch and the Wassataquoik Stream. Glacial landforms, 
                glacial scoured

[[Page 59124]]

                bedrock, and the lake sediments in the area, deposited 
                only since the retreat of the last glaciers, record a 
                history of intense climate change that gave rise to the 
                modern topography of the area.

                This post-glacial topography is studded with attractive 
                small mountains, including some like Deasey, Lunksoos, 
                and Barnard, that offer spectacular views of Mount 
                Katahdin. Katahdin Woods and Waters abuts much of 
                Baxter State Park's eastern boundary, extending the 
                conservation landscape through shared mountains, 
                streams, corridors for plants and animals, and other 
                natural systems.

                Among the defining natural features of Katahdin Woods 
                and Waters is the East Branch of the Penobscot River 
                system, including its major tributaries, the Seboeis 
                River and the Wassataquoik Stream, and many smaller 
                tributaries. Known as one of the least developed 
                watersheds in the northeastern United States, the 
                Penobscot East Branch River system has a stunning 
                concentration of hydrological features in addition to 
                its significant geology and ecology. From the northern 
                boundary of Katahdin Woods and Waters, the main stem of 
                the East Branch drops over 200 feet in about 10 miles 
                through a series of rapids and waterfalls--including 
                Stair Falls, Haskell Rock Pitch, Pond Pitch, Grand 
                Pitch, the Hulling Machine, and Bowlin Falls.

                After Bowlin Brook, the main stem declines more gently 
                south toward Whetstone Falls and below, embroidered 
                with many side channels and associated floodplain 
                forests and open streamshores. Of the two major 
                tributaries, the Seboeis River flows in from the east, 
                and the Wassataquoik Stream from the west, the latter 
                dropping over 500 feet in its approximately 14-mile 
                wild run from the border of Baxter State Park to its 
                confluence with the Penobscot East Branch main stem.

                The extraordinary significance of the Penobscot East 
                Branch River system has long been recognized. A 1977 
                Department of the Interior study determined that the 
                East Branch of the Penobscot River, including the 
                Wassataquoik Stream, qualifies for inclusion in the 
                National Wild and Scenic Rivers System based on its 
                outstandingly remarkable values, and a 1982 Federal-
                State study of rivers in Maine determined that the 
                Penobscot East Branch River System, including both the 
                Wassataquoik Stream and the Seboeis River, ranks in the 
                highest category of natural and recreational rivers and 
                possesses nationally significant resource values.

                In recent years, a multi-party public-private project 
                has taken steps to reconnect the Penobscot River with 
                the sea through the removal and retrofitting of 
                downstream dams. This river restoration will likely 
                further enhance the integrity of the Penobscot East 
                Branch river system, and provide opportunities for 
                scientific study of the effects of the restoration on 
                upstream areas within Katahdin Woods and Waters. It 
                will also allow federally endangered Atlantic salmon to 
                return to the upper reaches of the river known in the 
                Penobscot language as ``Wassetegweweck,'' or ``the 
                place where they spear fish.'' The return of ocean-run 
                Atlantic salmon to this watershed would complement the 
                exceptional native brook trout fishery for which 
                Katahdin Woods and Waters is known today.

                Katahdin Woods and Waters possesses significant 
                biodiversity. Spanning three ecoregions, it displays 
                the transition between northern boreal and southern 
                broadleaf deciduous forests, providing a unique and 
                important opportunity for scientific investigation of 
                the effects of climate change across ecotones. The 
                forests include mixed hardwoods like sugar maple, 
                beech, and yellow birch; mixed forests with hardwoods, 
                hemlock, and white pine; and spruce-fir forests with 
                balsam fir, red spruce, and birches. In wetland areas, 
                black spruce, white spruce, red maple, and tamarack 
                dominate.

                Although significant portions of the area have been 
                logged in recent years, the regenerating forests retain 
                connectivity and provide significant biodiversity among 
                plant and animal communities, enhancing their 
                ecological resilience. With the complex matrix of 
                microclimates represented, the area likely contains the 
                attributes needed to sustain natural ecological 
                function in the

[[Page 59125]]

                face of climate change, and provide natural strongholds 
                for species into the future. These forests also afford 
                connections and scientific comparisons with the forests 
                on adjacent State land, including Baxter State Park, 
                which was logged heavily before its parcel-by-parcel 
                purchase by former Governor Percival Baxter between 
                1931 and 1963.

                Of particular scientific significance are the number 
                and quality of small and medium-sized patch ecosystems 
                throughout the area, tending to occur in less common 
                topography that is often relatively remote or 
                inaccessible. Hilltops and barrens often protect rare 
                flora and fauna, such as the blueberry-lichen barren 
                and associated spruce-heath barren found between Robar 
                and Eastern Brooks, and the three-toothed cinquefoil-
                blueberry low summit bald atop Lunksoos Mountain, where 
                rattlesnake hawkweed can be found. Cliffs and steep 
                slopes, like those present along the ridge from Deasey 
                Mountain to Little Spring Brook Mountain and on the 
                eastern sides of Billfish and Traveler Mountains, 
                harbor exemplary rock outcrop ecosystems that often 
                include flora of special interest, such as fragrant 
                cliff wood-fern and purple clematis. Ravines and coves 
                can support enriched forests like the maple-basswood-
                ash community found below the eastern cliffs of 
                Lunksoos Mountain, with trees over 250 years old and 
                associated rare plants including squirrel-corn. The 
                Appalachian-Acadian rivershore ecosystems of the 
                Penobscot East Branch and its two major tributaries are 
                considered exemplary in Maine, with occurrences of 
                beautiful silver maple floodplain forest and hardwood 
                river terrace forest--rare and imperiled natural 
                communities, respectively, in the State. A nationally 
                significant diversity of high quality wetlands and wet 
                basins occurs throughout Katahdin Woods and Waters, 
                including smaller streams and brooks, ponds, swamps, 
                bogs, and fens. Patch forests of various types also 
                occur throughout the area, such as a red-pine woodland 
                forest on small hills and ridges amid the large Mud 
                Brook Flowage wetland in the southwestern section.

                The expanse of Katahdin Woods and Waters, augmented by 
                its location next to other large conservation 
                properties including Baxter State Park and additional 
                State reservations, supports many wide-ranging wildlife 
                species including ruffed grouse, moose, black bear, 
                white-tailed deer, snowshoe hare, American marten, 
                bobcat, bald eagle, northern goshawk, and the federally 
                threatened Canada lynx. Seventy-eight bird species are 
                known to breed in the area, and many more bird species 
                use it. Visitation and study of the area have been 
                limited to date, as compared with other areas like 
                Baxter State Park, and many more species of birds and 
                other wildlife may be present.

                Certain wildlife species are known to occur in specific 
                patch ecosystems in the area, such as the short-eared 
                owl in hilltops and barrens, and the silver-haired bat 
                and the wood turtle in floodplain forests. Mussels such 
                as the tidewater mucket and yellow lampmussel live in 
                some of the brooks and streams, and rare invertebrates 
                like the copper butterfly, pygmy snaketail dragonfly, 
                Tomah mayfly, and Roaring Brook mayfly inhabit some of 
                its bogs and fens.

                Katahdin Woods and Waters's daytime scenery is awe-
                inspiring, from the breadth of its mountain-studded 
                landscape, to the channels of its free-flowing streams 
                with their rapids, falls, and quiet water, to its 
                vantages for viewing the Mount Katahdin massif, the 
                ``greatest mountain.'' The area's night skies rival 
                this experience, glittering with stars and planets and 
                occasional displays of the aurora borealis, in this 
                area of the country known for its dark sky.

                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;

[[Page 59126]]

                WHEREAS, for the purpose of establishing a national 
                monument to be administered by the National Park 
                Service, Elliotsville Plantation, Inc. (EPI), has 
                donated certain lands and interests in land within 
                Katahdin Woods and Waters to the Federal Government;

                WHEREAS, the Roxanne Quimby Foundation has established 
                a substantial endowment with the National Park 
                Foundation to support the administration of a national 
                monument;

                WHEREAS, Katahdin Woods and Waters is an exceptional 
                example of the rich and storied Maine Woods, enhanced 
                by its location in a larger protected landscape, and 
                thus would be a valuable addition to the Nation's 
                natural, historical, and cultural heritage conserved 
                and enjoyed in the National Park System;

                WHEREAS, it is in the public interest to preserve and 
                protect the historic and scientific objects in Katahdin 
                Woods and Waters;

                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 Katahdin 
                Woods and Waters National Monument (monument) and, for 
                the purpose of protecting those objects, reserve as a 
                part thereof all lands and interests in lands owned or 
                controlled by the Federal Government within the 
                boundaries described on the accompanying map entitled, 
                ``Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument,'' which 
                is attached to and forms a part of this proclamation. 
                The reserved Federal lands and interests in lands 
                encompass approximately 87,500 acres. The 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 on the accompanying map are hereby 
                appropriated and withdrawn from all forms of entry, 
                location, selection, sale, or other disposition under 
                the public land laws, from location, entry, and patent 
                under the mining laws, and from disposition under all 
                laws relating to mineral and geothermal leasing.

                The establishment of the monument is subject to valid 
                existing rights, including the November 29, 2007, 
                ``Access Agreement'' between EPI and the State of 
                Maine, Department of Conservation that provides for 
                certain public snowmobile use on specified parcels, and 
                certain reservations of rights for Elliotsville 
                Plantation, Inc., in specified parcels. If the Federal 
                Government acquires any lands or interests in lands not 
                owned or controlled by the Federal Government within 
                the boundaries described on the accompanying map, such 
                lands and interests in lands 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 (Secretary) shall manage 
                these lands through the National Park Service, pursuant 
                to applicable authorities and consistent with the valid 
                existing rights and the purposes and provisions of this 
                proclamation. As provided in the deeds, the Secretary 
                shall allow hunting by the public on the parcels east 
                of the East Branch of the Penobscot River in accordance 
                with applicable law. The Secretary may restrict hunting 
                in designated zones and during designated periods for 
                reasons of public safety, administration, or resource 
                protection. This proclamation will not otherwise affect 
                the authority of the State of Maine with respect to 
                hunting.

                The Secretary shall prepare a management plan to 
                implement the purposes of this proclamation, with full 
                public involvement, within 3 years of the date of this 
                proclamation. The Secretary shall use available 
                authorities, as appropriate, to enter into agreements 
                with others to address common interests and promote 
                management needs and efficiencies.

[[Page 59127]]

                Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to enlarge 
                or diminish the rights of any Indian tribe. The 
                Secretary shall, to the maximum extent permitted by law 
                and in consultation with Indian tribes, ensure the 
                protection of Indian sacred sites and cultural sites in 
                the monument and provide access to the sites 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).

                Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to revoke 
                any existing withdrawal, reservation, or appropriation; 
                however, the monument shall be the dominant 
                reservation.

                Nothing in this proclamation shall preclude the use of 
                existing low level Military Training Routes, consistent 
                with applicable Federal Aviation Administration 
                regulations and guidance for overflights of military 
                aircraft, consistent with the care and management of 
                the objects to be protected.

                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 
                twenty-fourth day of August, in the year of our Lord 
                two thousand sixteen, and of the Independence of the 
                United States of America the two hundred and forty-
                first.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

Billing code 3295-F6-P



[[Page 59128]]

[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TD29AU16.000


[FR Doc. 2016-20786
Filed 8-26-16; 8:45 a.m.]
Billing code 4310-10-C

$59121 Federal Register Presidential Documents Vol. 81, No. 167 Monday, August 29, 2016 Title 3— Proclamation 9476 of August 24, 2016 The President Establishment of the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation In north central Maine lies an area of the North Woods known in recent years as the Katahdin Woods and Waters Recreation Area (Katahdin Woods and Waters), approximately 87,500 acres within a larger landscape already conserved by public and private efforts starting a century ago. Katahdin Woods and Waters contains a significant piece of this extraordinary natural and cultural landscape: the mountains, woods, and waters east of Baxter State Park (home of Mount Katahdin, the northern terminus of the Appa- lachian Trail), where the East Branch of the Penobscot River and its tribu- taries, including the Wassataquoik Stream and the Seboeis River, run freely. Since the glaciers retreated 12,000 years ago, these waterways and associated resources—the scenery, geology, flora and fauna, night skies, and more— have attracted people to this area. Native Americans still cherish these resources. Lumberjacks, river drivers, and timber owners have earned their livings here. Artists, authors, scientists, conservationists, recreationists, and others have drawn knowledge and inspiration from this landscape. Katahdin Woods and Waters contains objects of significant scientific and historic interest. For some 11,000 years, Native peoples have inhabited the area, depending on its waterways and woods for sustenance. They traveled during the year from the upper reaches of the East Branch of the Penobscot River and its tributaries to coastal destinations like Frenchman and Penobscot Bays. Native peoples have traditionally used the rivers as a vast transportation network, seasonally searching for food, furs, medicines, and many other resources. Based on the results of archeological research performed in nearby areas, researchers believe that much of the archeological record of this long Native American presence in Katahdin Woods and Waters remains to be discovered, creating significant opportunity for scientific investigation. What is known is that the Wabanaki people, in particular the Penobscot Indian Nation, consider the Penobscot River (including the East Branch watershed) a centerpiece of their culture and spiritual values. The first documented Euro-American exploration of the Katahdin region dates to a 1793 survey commissioned by the Commonwealth of Massachu- setts. After Maine achieved statehood in 1820, Major Joseph Treat, guided by John Neptune of the Penobscot Tribe, produced the first detailed maps of the region. The Maine Boundary Commission authorized a survey of the new State in 1825, for which surveyor Joseph C. Norris, Sr., and his son established the ‘‘Monument Line,’’ which runs through Katahdin Woods and Waters and serves as the State’s east-west baseline from which township boundaries are drawn. jstallworth on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with PRES DOC By the early 19th century until the late 20th century, logging was a way of life throughout the area, as exemplified by the history of logging along the Wassataquoik Stream. To access the upstream forests, a tote road was built on the Wassataquoik’s north bank around 1841; traces of the old road can still be seen in places. The earliest loggers felled enormous white pines and then ‘‘drove’’ them down the tumultuous stream. Beginning in the 1880s, after the choice pines were gone, the loggers switched to spruce VerDate Sep<11>2014 07:47 Aug 26, 2016 Jkt 238001 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4705 Sfmt 4790 E:\FR\FM\29AUD0.SGM 29AUD0$

59122 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 167 / Monday, August 29, 2016 / Presidential Documents

long logs, and built camps, depots, and many dams on the Wassataquoik
to control its flow for the log drives. Remnants of the Dacey and Robar
Dams have been found, and discovery of more logging remnants and historic
artifacts is likely. Log driving was dangerous, and many men died on the
river and were buried nearby. A large fire in 1884 damaged logging operations
on the Wassataquoik, and an even larger fire in 1903 put an end to the
long log operations. Pulpwood operations resumed in 1910 but ceased in
1915. Other streams, like Sandy Stream, have similar logging histories.
The East Branch of the Penobscot River and its major tributaries served
as a thoroughfare for huge log drives headed toward Bangor. Log drives
ended (based primarily on environmental concerns) in the 1970s, after which
the timber companies relied on trucking and a network of private roads
they started to build in the 1950s.
In the 1800s, the infrastructure that developed to support the logging industry
also drew hunters, anglers, and hikers to the area. In the 1830s, within
2 miles of one another on the eastern side of the Penobscot East Branch,
William Hunt and Hiram Dacey established farms to serve loggers, which
soon also served recreationists, scientists, and others who wanted to explore
the Katahdin region or climb its mountains. Just across the East Branch
from the Hunt and Dacey Farms (the latter now the site of Lunksoos Camps)
lies the entrance to the Wassataquoik Stream. In 1848, the Reverend Marcus
Keep established what is still called Keep Path, running along the
Wassataquoik to Katahdin Lake and on to Mount Katahdin. From that time
until the end of the 19th century, the favored entryway to the Katahdin
region started on the east side of Mount Katahdin with a visit to Hunt
or Dacey Farm, then crossed the East Branch and ascended the valley of
the Wassataquoik Stream.
Henry David Thoreau—who made the ‘‘Maine Woods’’ famous through his
publications—approached from the headwaters of the East Branch to the
north. With his Penobscot guide Joe Polis and companion Edward Hoar
in 1857, on his last and longest trip to the area, he paddled past Dacey
Farm with just a brief stop at Hunt Farm. He wrote about his two nights
in the Katahdin Woods and Waters area—the first at what he named the
‘‘Checkerberry-tea camp,’’ near the oxbow just upriver from Stair Falls, and
the second on the river between Dacey and Hunt Farms where he drank
hemlock tea.
During his 1879 Maine trip on which he summited Mount Katahdin, Theo-
dore Roosevelt followed the route across the East Branch and up the
Wassataquoik. As Roosevelt later recalled, he lost one of his hiking boots
crossing the Wassataquoik but, undaunted, completed the challenging trek
in moccasins. Many including Roosevelt himself have observed that his
several trips to the Katahdin region in the late 1870s had a significant
impact on his life, as he overcame longstanding health problems, gained
strength and stamina, experienced the wonder of nature and the desire
to conserve it, and made friends for life from the Maine Woods.
Native Mainer Percival P. Baxter, too, followed this route on the 1920
trip that solidified his determination to create a large park from this land-
scape. Burton Howe, a Patten lumberman, organized this trip of Maine
notables, who stayed at Lunksoos Camps before their ascent via the estab-
lished route. As a State representative, senator, and governor, Baxter had
proposed legislation to create a Mount Katahdin park in commemoration
of the State’s centennial, and the 1920 trip cemented his profound apprecia-
tion of the landscape. Spurned by the Maine legislature, Baxter devoted
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his life to acquiring 28 parcels of land, largely from timber companies
who had heavily logged them, and donated them to the State with manage-
ment instructions and an endowment, resulting in the establishment of
Baxter State Park.
Artists and photographers have left indelible images of their time spent
in the area. In 1832, John James Audubon canoed the East Branch and
sketched natural features for his masterpiece Birds of America. Frederic

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Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 167 / Monday, August 29, 2016 / Presidential Documents 59123

Edwin Church, the preeminent landscape artist of the Hudson River School,
first visited the area in the 1850s, and in 1877 invited his landscape-
painter colleagues to join him on a well-publicized expedition from Hunt
Farm up the Wassataquoik Stream to capture varied views of Mount Katahdin
and environs. In the early 1900s, George H. Hallowell painted and photo-
graphed the log drives on the Wassataquoik Stream, and Carl Sprinchorn
painted logging activities on the Seboeis River.
Geologists were among the earliest scientists to visit the area. While surveys
were done in the 1800s, in-depth geological research and mapping of the
area did not begin until the 1950s. These mid-20th century geologists found
bedrock spanning over 150 million years of the Paleozoic era, revealing
a remarkably complete exposure of Paleozoic rock strata with well-preserved
fossils. The lands west of the Penobscot East Branch are dominated by
volcanic and granitic rock from the Devonian period, mostly Katahdin Granite
but also Traveler Rhyolite, a light-colored volcanic rock that is similar in
composition to granite. The oldest rock in Katahdin Woods and Waters,
a light greenish-gray quartzite interlayered with slate from the early Cambrian
period (over 500 million years ago), can be observed along the riverbank
of the Penobscot East Branch for over 1,000 feet at the Grand Pitch (a
river rapid). This rock is part of the Weeksboro-Lunksoos Lake anticline,
a broad upward fold of rocks originally deposited horizontally, which is
evidence of mountain-building tectonics. The fold continues north along
the river and then turns northeast toward Shin Pond, exposing successive
bands of younger Paleozoic rock of both volcanic and sedimentary origin
on either side of the structure.
Various formations in the area provide striking visual evidence of marine
waters in Katahdin Woods and Waters during the geologic periods that
immediately followed the Cambrian period. For example, Owen Brook lime-
stone, an outcrop of calcareous bedrock west of the Penobscot East Branch
containing fossil brachiopods, is of coral reef origin. Pillow lavas, such
as those near the summit of Lunksoos Mountain, were produced by under-
water eruptions. Haskell Rock, the 20-foot-tall pillar in the midst of a Penob-
scot East Branch rapid, is conglomerate bedrock that suggests a time of
dynamic transition from volcanic islands to an ocean with underwater sedi-
mentation. This conglomerate, deposited about 450 million years ago, con-
tains volcanic and sedimentary stones of various sizes, and occurs in outcrops
and boulders in several locations.
The area’s geology also provides prominent evidence of large and powerful
earth-changing events. During the Paleozoic era (541 to 252 million years
ago), mountain-building events contributed to the rise of the primordial
Appalachian Mountain range and the amalgamation of the supercontinent
Pangaea. Following the last mountain-building event, significant erosion
reshaped the topography, helping to expose the cores of volcanoes, the
Katahdin pluton, and the structure of the previous mountain-building events.
About 200 million years ago, Pangaea began splitting apart as the Atlantic
Ocean appeared and North America, Europe, and Africa formed. Today,
the International Appalachian Trail, a long-distance hiking trail, seeks to
follow the ancestral Appalachian-Caledonian Mountains on both sides of
the Atlantic, starting at Katahdin Lake in Baxter State Park near the northern
end of the domestic Appalachian Trail, traversing Katahdin Woods and
Waters for about 30 miles, and proceeding through Canada for resumption
across the Atlantic.
In more recent geological history, during the approximately 2.5 million
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year-long Pleistocene epoch that ended approximately 12,000 years ago,
repeated glaciations covered the region, eroding bedrock and shaping the
modern landscape. Glacial till from the most recent glaciations underlies
much of the area’s soil, moraines occur in several locations, and glacial
erratics are common. Prominent eskers—long, snaking ridges of sand and
gravel deposited by glacial meltwater—occur along most of the Penobscot
East Branch and the Wassataquoik Stream. Glacial landforms, glacial scoured

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59124 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 167 / Monday, August 29, 2016 / Presidential Documents

bedrock, and the lake sediments in the area, deposited only since the retreat
of the last glaciers, record a history of intense climate change that gave
rise to the modern topography of the area.
This post-glacial topography is studded with attractive small mountains,
including some like Deasey, Lunksoos, and Barnard, that offer spectacular
views of Mount Katahdin. Katahdin Woods and Waters abuts much of Baxter
State Park’s eastern boundary, extending the conservation landscape through
shared mountains, streams, corridors for plants and animals, and other nat-
ural systems.
Among the defining natural features of Katahdin Woods and Waters is
the East Branch of the Penobscot River system, including its major tributaries,
the Seboeis River and the Wassataquoik Stream, and many smaller tributaries.
Known as one of the least developed watersheds in the northeastern United
States, the Penobscot East Branch River system has a stunning concentration
of hydrological features in addition to its significant geology and ecology.
From the northern boundary of Katahdin Woods and Waters, the main
stem of the East Branch drops over 200 feet in about 10 miles through
a series of rapids and waterfalls—including Stair Falls, Haskell Rock Pitch,
Pond Pitch, Grand Pitch, the Hulling Machine, and Bowlin Falls.
After Bowlin Brook, the main stem declines more gently south toward Whet-
stone Falls and below, embroidered with many side channels and associated
floodplain forests and open streamshores. Of the two major tributaries, the
Seboeis River flows in from the east, and the Wassataquoik Stream from
the west, the latter dropping over 500 feet in its approximately 14-mile
wild run from the border of Baxter State Park to its confluence with the
Penobscot East Branch main stem.
The extraordinary significance of the Penobscot East Branch River system
has long been recognized. A 1977 Department of the Interior study deter-
mined that the East Branch of the Penobscot River, including the
Wassataquoik Stream, qualifies for inclusion in the National Wild and Scenic
Rivers System based on its outstandingly remarkable values, and a 1982
Federal-State study of rivers in Maine determined that the Penobscot East
Branch River System, including both the Wassataquoik Stream and the
Seboeis River, ranks in the highest category of natural and recreational
rivers and possesses nationally significant resource values.
In recent years, a multi-party public-private project has taken steps to recon-
nect the Penobscot River with the sea through the removal and retrofitting
of downstream dams. This river restoration will likely further enhance the
integrity of the Penobscot East Branch river system, and provide opportunities
for scientific study of the effects of the restoration on upstream areas within
Katahdin Woods and Waters. It will also allow federally endangered Atlantic
salmon to return to the upper reaches of the river known in the Penobscot
language as ‘‘Wassetegweweck,’’ or ‘‘the place where they spear fish.’’ The
return of ocean-run Atlantic salmon to this watershed would complement
the exceptional native brook trout fishery for which Katahdin Woods and
Waters is known today.
Katahdin Woods and Waters possesses significant biodiversity. Spanning
three ecoregions, it displays the transition between northern boreal and
southern broadleaf deciduous forests, providing a unique and important
opportunity for scientific investigation of the effects of climate change across
ecotones. The forests include mixed hardwoods like sugar maple, beech,
and yellow birch; mixed forests with hardwoods, hemlock, and white pine;
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and spruce-fir forests with balsam fir, red spruce, and birches. In wetland
areas, black spruce, white spruce, red maple, and tamarack dominate.
Although significant portions of the area have been logged in recent years,
the regenerating forests retain connectivity and provide significant biodiver-
sity among plant and animal communities, enhancing their ecological resil-
ience. With the complex matrix of microclimates represented, the area likely
contains the attributes needed to sustain natural ecological function in the

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Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 167 / Monday, August 29, 2016 / Presidential Documents 59125

face of climate change, and provide natural strongholds for species into
the future. These forests also afford connections and scientific comparisons
with the forests on adjacent State land, including Baxter State Park, which
was logged heavily before its parcel-by-parcel purchase by former Governor
Percival Baxter between 1931 and 1963.
Of particular scientific significance are the number and quality of small
and medium-sized patch ecosystems throughout the area, tending to occur
in less common topography that is often relatively remote or inaccessible.
Hilltops and barrens often protect rare flora and fauna, such as the blueberry-
lichen barren and associated spruce-heath barren found between Robar and
Eastern Brooks, and the three-toothed cinquefoil-blueberry low summit bald
atop Lunksoos Mountain, where rattlesnake hawkweed can be found. Cliffs
and steep slopes, like those present along the ridge from Deasey Mountain
to Little Spring Brook Mountain and on the eastern sides of Billfish and
Traveler Mountains, harbor exemplary rock outcrop ecosystems that often
include flora of special interest, such as fragrant cliff wood-fern and purple
clematis. Ravines and coves can support enriched forests like the maple-
basswood-ash community found below the eastern cliffs of Lunksoos Moun-
tain, with trees over 250 years old and associated rare plants including
squirrel-corn. The Appalachian-Acadian rivershore ecosystems of the Penob-
scot East Branch and its two major tributaries are considered exemplary
in Maine, with occurrences of beautiful silver maple floodplain forest and
hardwood river terrace forest—rare and imperiled natural communities, re-
spectively, in the State. A nationally significant diversity of high quality
wetlands and wet basins occurs throughout Katahdin Woods and Waters,
including smaller streams and brooks, ponds, swamps, bogs, and fens. Patch
forests of various types also occur throughout the area, such as a red-
pine woodland forest on small hills and ridges amid the large Mud Brook
Flowage wetland in the southwestern section.
The expanse of Katahdin Woods and Waters, augmented by its location
next to other large conservation properties including Baxter State Park and
additional State reservations, supports many wide-ranging wildlife species
including ruffed grouse, moose, black bear, white-tailed deer, snowshoe
hare, American marten, bobcat, bald eagle, northern goshawk, and the feder-
ally threatened Canada lynx. Seventy-eight bird species are known to breed
in the area, and many more bird species use it. Visitation and study of
the area have been limited to date, as compared with other areas like
Baxter State Park, and many more species of birds and other wildlife may
be present.
Certain wildlife species are known to occur in specific patch ecosystems
in the area, such as the short-eared owl in hilltops and barrens, and the
silver-haired bat and the wood turtle in floodplain forests. Mussels such
as the tidewater mucket and yellow lampmussel live in some of the brooks
and streams, and rare invertebrates like the copper butterfly, pygmy snaketail
dragonfly, Tomah mayfly, and Roaring Brook mayfly inhabit some of its
bogs and fens.
Katahdin Woods and Waters’s daytime scenery is awe-inspiring, from the
breadth of its mountain-studded landscape, to the channels of its free-flowing
streams with their rapids, falls, and quiet water, to its vantages for viewing
the Mount Katahdin massif, the ‘‘greatest mountain.’’ The area’s night skies
rival this experience, glittering with stars and planets and occasional displays
of the aurora borealis, in this area of the country known for its dark sky.
WHEREAS, section 320301 of title 54, United States Code (known as the
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‘‘Antiquities Act’’), authorizes the President, in his discretion, to declare
by public proclamation historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric struc-
tures, 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;

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59126 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 167 / Monday, August 29, 2016 / Presidential Documents

WHEREAS, for the purpose of establishing a national monument to be admin-
istered by the National Park Service, Elliotsville Plantation, Inc. (EPI), has
donated certain lands and interests in land within Katahdin Woods and
Waters to the Federal Government;
WHEREAS, the Roxanne Quimby Foundation has established a substantial
endowment with the National Park Foundation to support the administration
of a national monument;
WHEREAS, Katahdin Woods and Waters is an exceptional example of the
rich and storied Maine Woods, enhanced by its location in a larger protected
landscape, and thus would be a valuable addition to the Nation’s natural,
historical, and cultural heritage conserved and enjoyed in the National Park
System;
WHEREAS, it is in the public interest to preserve and protect the historic
and scientific objects in Katahdin Woods and Waters;
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 Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monu-
ment (monument) and, for the purpose of protecting those objects, reserve
as a part thereof all lands and interests in lands owned or controlled by
the Federal Government within the boundaries described on the accom-
panying map entitled, ‘‘Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument,’’
which is attached to and forms a part of this proclamation. The reserved
Federal lands and interests in lands encompass approximately 87,500 acres.
The 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
on the accompanying map are hereby appropriated and withdrawn from
all forms of entry, location, selection, sale, or other disposition under the
public land laws, from location, entry, and patent under the mining laws,
and from disposition under all laws relating to mineral and geothermal
leasing.
The establishment of the monument is subject to valid existing rights, includ-
ing the November 29, 2007, ‘‘Access Agreement’’ between EPI and the State
of Maine, Department of Conservation that provides for certain public snow-
mobile use on specified parcels, and certain reservations of rights for
Elliotsville Plantation, Inc., in specified parcels. If the Federal Government
acquires any lands or interests in lands not owned or controlled by the
Federal Government within the boundaries described on the accompanying
map, such lands and interests in lands 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 (Secretary) shall manage these lands through
the National Park Service, pursuant to applicable authorities and consistent
with the valid existing rights and the purposes and provisions of this procla-
mation. As provided in the deeds, the Secretary shall allow hunting by
the public on the parcels east of the East Branch of the Penobscot River
in accordance with applicable law. The Secretary may restrict hunting in
designated zones and during designated periods for reasons of public safety,
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administration, or resource protection. This proclamation will not otherwise
affect the authority of the State of Maine with respect to hunting.
The Secretary shall prepare a management plan to implement the purposes
of this proclamation, with full public involvement, within 3 years of the
date of this proclamation. The Secretary shall use available authorities,
as appropriate, to enter into agreements with others to address common
interests and promote management needs and efficiencies.

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Document Created: 2016-08-26 23:50:02
Document Modified: 2016-08-26 23:50:02

Category		Regulatory Information
Collection		Federal Register
sudoc Class		AE 2.7: GS 4.107: AE 2.106:
Publisher		Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration
Section		Presidential Documents
FR Citation		81 FR 59121