Presidential Document2024-10266
Boundary Enlargement of the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument
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Published
May 9, 2024
Signed
May 2, 2024
Issuing agencies
Executive Office of the President
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 91 (Thursday, May 9, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 91 (Thursday, May 9, 2024)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 39531-39537]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-10266]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 91 / Thursday, May 9, 2024 /
Presidential Documents
___________________________________________________________________
Title 3--
The President
[[Page 39531]]
Proclamation 10745 of May 2, 2024
Boundary Enlargement of the Berryessa Snow
Mountain National Monument
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
Through Proclamation 9298 of July 10, 2015, President
Obama established the Berryessa Snow Mountain National
Monument (monument) to protect an array of spectacular
historic, cultural, geologic, and ecological resources
in the heart of northern California's Inner Coast
Range. Straddling the eastern edge of the monument
boundary, Molok Luyuk--which means ``Condor Ridge'' in
the language of the Patwin people--is a striking 11-
mile north-to-south ridgeline that is sacred to the
Patwin people and contains a mosaic of historic objects
and rare natural communities supported by the unique
geologic and hydrologic features of the area. The
ridgeline, also known as Walker Ridge, is flanked by
chaparral-covered canyons, serpentinite outcroppings,
oak and cypress woodlands, and spring-fed meadows.
Lands within the Molok Luyuk area show evidence of
occupation by Indigenous peoples for more than 10,000
years. The historical significance of Molok Luyuk
contributes to its cultural and spiritual significance
to the Patwin people, and many other Indigenous peoples
from northern California also have ties to the area,
including the Pomo, Lake Miwok, Yuki, and Nomlaki.
While much of the western slope of the ridge was
designated as part of the monument by Proclamation
9298, expanding the monument's eastern boundary to
include the full Molok Luyuk area--from the ridgeline
to the point where the foothills recede into the
flatlands of Bear Valley--will protect additional
objects of scientific and historic interest and enable
holistic management of a culturally significant
landscape.
Since time immemorial, Molok Luyuk has held a deep
cultural significance for Tribal Nations of the Patwin
people, including the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, the
Kletsel Dehe Band of Wintun Indians, and the Cachil
Dehe Band of Wintun Indians. Their history is connected
to Molok Luyuk and their lifeways are intertwined with
the features, plants, and wildlife of the expansion
area. The name Molok Luyuk recalls a time when condors
were a common sight soaring above the ridge, and the
Patwin people would often celebrate them with dances
and ceremonies. On a clear day, the highest points of
Molok Luyuk offer a commanding view of the surrounding
rugged and undeveloped landscape, encompassing Mount
Shasta to the north, Mount Tamalpais to the southwest,
and Sutter Buttes to the east. This viewshed, and
particularly the view of the sun rising over Sutter
Buttes, is central to the Patwin origin story and
connected the Patwin communities that once lived in the
hills of Molok Luyuk and beyond with the River Patwin
communities that populated Bear Valley, which lies just
to the east, before they were displaced by trappers,
ranchers, and miners. The expansion area includes sites
of historic and ceremonial importance to members of all
three Patwin Nations along the ridgeline and around its
numerous natural springs.
The area around Molok Luyuk has long contained numerous
objects of scientific and historic interest. Molok
Luyuk played an important role in providing for the
sustenance of the Patwin communities that were once
found in the area. Occupants of nearby villages made
seasonal forays to the ridge and flanks of Molok Luyuk
in search of manzanita berries, clover,
[[Page 39532]]
gray pine nuts, acorns, bulbs, and tubers, as well as
to hunt elk and deer. Evidence of this cultural story
marks the landscape today through numerous lithic
scatters--sites containing ancient tools, tool
fragments, and lithic flakes from tool production and
maintenance--found along Molok Luyuk and around the
area's cold springs. These scatter sites, which in some
cases date back thousands of years, likely represent
hunting and gathering camps and sites used by
generations of Indigenous people for ceremonial
purposes. Artifacts from these sites include obsidian
tools made from sources in the region.
Trails once crossed and stretched out from the
ridgeline. These trails, which ran atop the ridge and
just inside the northern and southern boundaries of the
expansion area, are important to the history of how
Patwin communities were connected to other Indigenous
communities in northern California. For instance, they
enabled cultural exchanges among Indigenous people in
the region, connected villages, and facilitated access
to seasonal camps and ceremonial sites. Knowledge of
the trails lives within Patwin oral history and
cultural expertise and has been documented in
ethnographic studies. Some trails were part of a larger
interregional network by which other northern
California Indigenous peoples would access Molok Luyuk
and the healing hot springs that today lie on private
land just to the south of the expansion area.
A tumultuous geologic history underpins the expansion
area's diverse ecological communities. The backbone of
Molok Luyuk is an ophiolite formed by unusual
ultramafic rocks. Serpentinite, as this rock is more
commonly known, was originally formed deep within the
Earth's mantle and eventually thrust upward through the
forces of plate tectonics. The landscape is subtly
marked by the smoky gray-green of serpentine rocks and
their derivative soils. Rare serpentine soils resulting
from eroded serpentinite dominate the ridgeline and
eastern flank of Molok Luyuk. These soils have
unusually high levels of magnesium and iron and very
low levels of nutrients, such as calcium and
phosphorus, that are critical for the survival of most
plants. This soil chemistry imposed evolutionary
pressure resulting in a profusion of unique species and
habitats that are inhospitable to non-native species
that may dominate elsewhere.
Protecting serpentine soils like those found in the
expansion area is essential to the preservation of
California's endemic and rare plant life. While
serpentine soils occur on less than 1.5 percent of
California's land base, they are home to nearly 15
percent of California endemic species and nearly 11
percent of its rare plant taxa. Consistent with this
State-wide data, the great majority of special-status
plant taxa within the Molok Luyuk area occur primarily
on serpentine soils.
Molok Luyuk's diverse topography and geology, which
also include sandstone and shale, create the conditions
for its 13 distinct plant communities, 9 of which
spring from serpentine soils. These habitats include
serpentine and non-serpentine chaparral, McNab and
Sargent cypress and blue and live oak woodlands,
serpentine riparian woodland, native wildflower fields,
and serpentine seeps. This diversity of plants and
plant communities provided the wide array of foods,
tools, and medicines that the Patwin gathered from
Molok Luyuk. Nearly 500 native California plant taxa
have been identified within the expansion area,
including at least 38 different special-status plant
taxa. The expansion area also includes suitable habitat
for another 30 special-status plants that have been
documented in the surrounding area. Numerous studies--
particularly those focused on species that grow on
serpentine soils--have made use of botanical samples
from the expansion area, and protecting these rare and
sensitive plants will preserve opportunities for
important future botanical research.
Brilliant fields of native wildflowers and bunchgrasses
are scattered throughout Molok Luyuk. Springtime brings
a kaleidoscopic display of butter-yellow golden fairy
lantern, flame-like woolly Indian paintbrush, and
brilliant orange starbursts of flame ragwort, all of
which are native species that thrive in
[[Page 39533]]
the area's serpentine meadows. The delicate violet
flowers of the Indian Valley brodiaea, a bulbiferous
perennial herb that is listed as a State of California
endangered species, can also be found tucked into
serpentine seeps. Throughout the summer, the small
white flowers of the drymary dwarf flax, a Bureau of
Land Management (BLM) sensitive species that is endemic
to California, are widespread on Molok Luyuk's higher
elevation serpentine slopes.
Unusual serpentine wetlands occur along Molok Luyuk, as
well as on downslope benches and along Highway 20 near
the Colusa-Lake county line. Many of these wetlands are
fed by the numerous seeps and springs scattered across
the area, which are of critical importance to the
area's botanical richness. These include Barrel Springs
in the northeastern portion of the expansion area, Cold
Spring near the center of the ridgeline, and Til Jones
and Eaton Springs in the south, along with numerous
other unnamed springs. Protecting these springs, and
the wetlands they feed, is critical to preserving the
rare and endemic species that thrive within the
monument and expansion area--and to preserving
opportunities for future scientific study.
Despite substantial fragmentation due to fires in 2008
and 2018, McNab cypress woodland, a California-
designated sensitive natural community that is
vulnerable at both the global and State scales,
dominates portions of the northern, higher elevations.
In addition to being a rare and vulnerable natural
community of scientific interest, the McNab cypress,
for which these woodlands are named, have been used for
Patwin ceremonies and medicines for generations and
continue to be used today.
A wide variety of mammals, birds, reptiles, and
amphibians use or make their homes in Molok Luyuk. More
than 80 species of birds have been recorded in the
area, including 18 special-status species. Both bald
and golden eagles can be observed gliding through the
sky above Molok Luyuk. Foothill yellow-legged frogs, a
BLM sensitive species, can be found in lower-elevation
streams within the expansion area. Members of the
oldest free-ranging tule elk herd in California also
reside within the expansion area. Tule elk, which are
endemic to California, had vanished from the wild until
a formerly captive herd was released in 1922 in Colusa
County. Other wildlife species that make their homes in
Molok Luyuk include black-tail deer, black bear,
coyote, bobcat, gopher snake, and western rattlesnake.
The slopes of Molok Luyuk provide an avenue for
wildlife to move from the lower elevations of Bear
Valley to the higher elevation of the ridgeline.
Conserving this expansion area will fortify protection
for the critical north-south migration corridor
provided by the existing monument.
As night falls over Molok Luyuk, other residents of the
area emerge. At least 14 species of bats occur in the
area, including the western red bat, pallid bat, and
Townsend's big-eared bat, each of which is a California
Species of Special Concern. The night skies through
which they fly are remarkably unmarred by light
pollution, which can disturb many species of bats as
well as other mammals and birds, and provide
increasingly rare and extraordinary stargazing
opportunities to those who venture out after sunset.
In light of threats, including impacts from climate
change, increased recreational use, and development
potential, expanding the boundaries of the Berryessa
Snow Mountain National Monument to protect the area
described above will preserve a diverse array of
natural and scientific resources and cultural and
historic legacy sites, ensuring that the scientific and
historic values of this area endure for the benefit of
all Americans. The expansion area contains numerous
objects of historic and scientific interest, and it
also provides opportunities for those who seek out
places of beauty and botanical wonder, whether through
hiking, hunting, scenic driving, camping, wildflower
viewing, or lying under a vast expanse of undimmed
starry sky.
[[Page 39534]]
WHEREAS, section 320301 of title 54, United States Code
(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; and
WHEREAS, I find that each of the objects identified
above, and objects of the type identified above within
the area described herein, are objects of historic or
scientific interest in need of protection under section
320301 of title 54, United States Code, regardless of
whether they are expressly identified as an object of
historic or scientific interest in the text of this
proclamation; and
WHEREAS, I find that there are threats to the objects
identified in this proclamation, and in the absence of
a reservation under the Antiquities Act, the objects
identified in this proclamation are not adequately
protected by applicable law or administrative
designations, thus making a national monument
designation and reservation necessary to protect the
objects of historic and scientific interest identified
above for current and future generations; and
WHEREAS, I find that the boundaries of the monument
reserved by this proclamation represent the smallest
area compatible with the proper care and management of
the objects of scientific or historic interest
identified above, as required by the Antiquities Act;
and
WHEREAS, it is in the public interest to ensure the
preservation, restoration, and protection of the
objects of scientific and historic interest identified
above;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., 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 part of the
Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument and, for the
purpose of protecting those objects, reserve as part
thereof all lands and interests in lands that are owned
or controlled by the Federal Government within the
boundaries described on the accompanying map, which is
attached hereto and forms a part of this proclamation.
The reserved Federal lands and interests in lands
within the expansion area encompass approximately
13,696 acres. As a result of the distribution of the
objects throughout the area, the boundaries described
on the accompanying map are confined to the smallest
area compatible with the proper care and management of
the objects of historic or scientific interest
identified above.
Nothing in this proclamation shall change the
management of the areas protected under Proclamation
9298. The terms, conditions, and management direction
provided by Proclamation 9298, including any term
limiting the construction or effect of Proclamation
9298, are incorporated by reference and shall apply to
the area reserved by this proclamation except to the
extent that they are inconsistent with a provision in
this proclamation.
All Federal lands and interests in lands 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, other than by exchange that
facilitates the remediation, monitoring, or reclamation
of historic mining operations under applicable law or
otherwise furthers the protective purposes of the
monument.
The enlargement of the boundary is subject to valid
existing rights. If the Federal Government subsequently
acquires any lands or interests in lands
[[Page 39535]]
not currently 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 of the type 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), through the
BLM, shall manage the expansion area pursuant to
applicable legal authorities, as a unit of the National
Landscape Conservation System, and in accordance with
the terms, conditions, and management direction
provided by this proclamation and, as described above,
those provided by Proclamation 9298.
For purposes of protecting and restoring the objects
identified above, the Secretary shall include the lands
within the expansion area in the management plan for
the monument provided for in Proclamation 9298. The
Secretary shall promulgate such rules and regulations
for the management of the expansion area as deemed
appropriate.
Consistent with the direction in Proclamation 9298, in
recognition of the importance of Tribal participation
in the care and management of the objects identified
above, and to ensure that management decisions are
informed by and reflect Tribal expertise and Indigenous
Knowledge, the Secretary shall explore entering into
one or more memoranda of understanding with interested
Tribal Nations to set forth terms, pursuant to
applicable laws, regulations, and policies, for co-
stewardship of the expansion area, as well as for
educational and other outreach efforts regarding the
history of the Tribal Nations in the area and the name
Molok Luyuk.
In order to reflect the historic, spiritual, and
cultural significance of Molok Luyuk to the Patwin
Tribes as discussed throughout this proclamation, the
geographic feature identified in the Federal Geographic
Names Information System as Feature 237183 shall be
renamed Molok Luyuk. The Secretary and the Board of
Geographic Names shall take any necessary and
appropriate steps to make this change in the Geographic
Names Information System. Except as necessary for the
care and management of the objects identified above, no
new rights-of-way shall be authorized within the area
reserved by this proclamation.
The Secretary shall issue a travel management plan that
authorizes motorized and non-motorized mechanized
vehicle use, including mountain biking, so long as such
use is consistent with the care and management of the
objects identified above. Further, the Secretary shall
monitor motorized and non-motorized mechanized vehicle
use and designated roads and trails to ensure proper
care and management of the objects identified above.
The Secretary shall evaluate opportunities to enter
into one or more agreements with governments, including
State, local, and Tribal, regarding protection of the
objects identified above during wildland fire
prevention and response efforts.
If any provision of this proclamation, including its
application to a particular parcel of land, is held to
be invalid, the remainder of this proclamation and its
application to other parcels of land shall not be
affected thereby.
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.
[[Page 39536]]
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
second day of May, in the year of our Lord two thousand
twenty-four, and of the Independence of the United
States of America the two hundred and forty-eighth.
<GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT>
(Presidential Sig.)
Billing code 3395-F4-P
[[Page 39537]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TD09MY24.066
[FR Doc. 2024-10266
Filed 5-8-24; 8:45 am]
Billing code 4310-10-C
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on May 9, 2024.
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