Proclamation 7396 of January 17, 2001 Establishment of the Pompeys Pillar National Monument By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation Pompeys Pillar National Monument is a massive sandstone outcrop that rises from an almost two-acre base on the banks of the Yellowstone River 150 feet toward Montana's Big Sky, east of Billings. The monument's premier location at a natural ford in the Yellowstone River, and its geologic distinction as the only major sandstone formation in the area, have made Pompeys Pillar a celebrated landmark and outstanding observation point for more than eleven thousand years of human occupation. Hundreds of markings, petroglyphs, and inscriptions left by visitors have transformed this geologic phenomenon into a living journal of the American West. The monument's most notable visitor, Captain William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, arrived at Pompeys Pillar on July 25, 1806, on his return trip from the Pacific coast. Clark's journal recorded his stop at this "remarkable rock" with its "extensive view in every direction." He described an idyllic landscape of grassy plains, snowcapped mountains, and cliffs abutting the wandering river. Clark marked his presence by engraving his name and the date of his visit on the outcrop. This simple inscription is the only remaining physical evidence of Lewis and Clark's epic journey. In his journal, Clark named the rock Pompy's Tower, Pompy being Clark's nickname for Sacagawea's young son, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, who was born at the expedition's winter camp at Fort Mandan on February 11, 1805. The name was changed to Pompeys Pillar by author Nicholas Biddle when his account of the Expedition was published in 1814. Ethnographic and archaeological evidence indicates that the Pillar was a place of ritual and religious activity. Hundreds of petroglyphs on the face of the rock, noted by Clark in his journal, reflect the importance of the monument to early peoples. The Crow people, the dominant residents of the region when Clark passed through, call the pillar the "Mountain Lions Lodge" in their language, and it figures prominently in Crow oral history. Pompeys Pillar also includes the markings and signature of a host of characters from the pioneer past, including fur trappers, Yellowstone River steamboat men, frontier army troops, railroad workers, missionaries, and early settlers. In 1873, Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer and his men camped at its base, where they came under attack from Sioux snipers. Section 2 of the Act of June 8, 1906 (34 Stat. 225, 16 U.S.C. 431), authorizes the President, in his discretion, to declare by public proclamation historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest that are situated upon the lands owned or controlled by the Government of the United States to be national monuments, and to reserve as a part thereof parcels of land, the limits of which in all cases shall be confined to the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected. WHEREAS it appears that it would be in the public interest to reserve such lands as a national monument to be known as the Pompeys Pillar National Monument: NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the United States of America, by the authority vested in me by section 2 of the Act of June 8, 1906 (34 Stat. 225, 16 U.S.C. 431), do proclaim that there are hereby set apart and reserved as the Pompeys Pillar National Monument, for the purpose of protecting the objects identified above, all lands and interests in lands owned or controlled by the United States within the boundaries of the area described on the map entitled "Pompeys Pillar National Monument" attached to and forming a part of this proclamation. The Federal land and interests in land reserved consist of approximately 51 acres, which is 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 of this monument are hereby appropriated and withdrawn from all forms of entry, location, selection, sale, or leasing or other disposition under the public land laws, including but not limited to withdrawal from location, entry, and patent under the mining laws, and from disposition under all laws relating to mineral and geothermal leasing. Lands and interests in lands within the proposed monument not owned by the United States shall be reserved as a part of the monument upon acquisition of title thereto by the United States. The Secretary of the Interior shall manage the monument through the Bureau of Land Management, pursuant to applicable legal authorities, to implement the purposes of this proclamation. The establishment of this monument is subject to any valid existing rights, including the mineral estate held by the United States in trust for the Crow Tribe. Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to enlarge or diminish the jurisdiction of the State of Montana with respect to fish and wildlife management. This proclamation does not reserve water as a matter of Federal law. Nothing in this reservation shall be construed as a relinquishment or reduction of any water use or rights reserved or appropriated by the United States on or before the date of this proclamation. The Secretary shall work with appropriate State authorities to ensure that any water resources needed for monument purposes are available. Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to revoke any existing withdrawal, reservation, or appropriation; however,the national monument shall be the dominant reservation. Warning is hereby given to all unauthorized persons not to appropriate, injure, destroy, or remove any feature of this monument and not to locate or settle upon any of the lands thereof. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this seventeenth day of January, in the year of our Lord two thousand one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-fifth. WILLIAM J. CLINTON The Sonoran Desert National Monument is a magnificent example of untrammeled Sonoran desert landscape. The area encompasses a functioning desert ecosystem with an extraordinary array of biological, scientific, and historic resources. The most biologically diverse of the 94 Pompey Pillar Scale 1:12,000 Boundary BLM Lands Inside NM Land Status พาย Private December 18, 2000 State North American deserts, the monument consists of distinct mountain ranges separated by wide valleys, and includes large saguaro cactus forest communities that provide excellent habitat for a wide range of wildlife species. The monument's biological resources include a spectacular diversity of plant and animal species. The higher peaks include unique woodland assemblages, while the lower elevation lands offer one of the most structurally complex examples of palo verde/mixed cacti association in the Sonoran Desert. The dense stands of leguminous trees and cacti are dominated by saguaros, palo-verde trees, ironwood, prickly pear, and cholla. Important natural water holes, known as tinajas, exist throughout the monument. The endangered acuna pineapple cactus is also found in the monument. The most striking aspect of the plant communities within the monument are the abundant saguaro cactus forests. The saguaro is a signature plant of the Sonoran Desert. Individual saguaro plants are indeed magnificent, but a forest of these plants, together with the wide variety of trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants that make up the forest community, is an impressive site to behold. The saguaro cactus forests within the monument are a national treasure, rivaling those within the Saguaro National Park. The rich diversity, density, and distribution of plants in the Sand Tank Mountains area of the monument is especially striking and can be attributed to the management regime in place since the area was withdrawn for military purposes in 1941. In particular, while some public access to the area is allowed, no livestock grazing has occurred for nearly 50 years. To extend the extraordinary diversity and overall ecological health of the Sand Tanks Mountains area, land adjacent and with biological resources similar to the area withdrawn for military purposes should be subject to a similar management regime to the fullest extent possible. The monument contains an abundance of packrat middens, allowing for scientific analysis of plant species and climates in past eras. Scientific analysis of the midden shows that the area received far more precipitation 20,000 years ago, and slowly became more arid. Vegetation for the area changed from juniper- oak-pinion pine woodland to the vegetation found today in the Sonoran Desert, although a few plants from the more mesic period, including the Kofa Mountain barberry, Arizona rosewood, and junipers, remain on higher elevations of north-facing slopes. The lower elevations and flatter areas of the monument contain the creosote-bursage plant community. This plant community thrives in the open expanses between the mountain ranges, and connects the other plant communities together. Rare patches of desert grassland can also be found throughout the monument, especially in the Sand Tank Mountains area. The washes in the area support a much denser vegetation community than the surrounding desert, including mesquite, ironwood, paloverde, desert honeysuckle, chuperosa, and desert willow, as well as a variety of herbaceous plants. This vegetation offers the dense cover bird species need for successful nesting, foraging, and escape, and birds heavily use the washes during migration. The diverse plant communities present in the monument support a wide variety of wildlife, including the endangered Sonoran pronghorn, |