Establishment of the Castle Mountains National Monument

Proclamation 9394 of February 12, 2016

Establishment of the Castle Mountains National
Monument

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

The Castle Mountains area, bounded on three sides by
Mojave National Preserve (Preserve), possesses
outstanding natural, cultural, and historical values
representing some of the finest characteristics of the
eastern Mojave Desert. It connects water flow and
wildlife corridors of the Preserve, and completes the
boundary of the Preserve along the California-Nevada
border. Beneath the shadow of Hart Peak lie rich
cultural and historic resources, including Native
American archeological sites and the historic gold
mining ghost town of Hart. Exposed geologic features
contribute to the area's outstanding scenery.

Shaped by millions of years of geologic forces, the
rugged Castle Mountains are emblematic of the Mojave
landscape. The Castle Mountains rise from the broad
sweep of the Lanfair Valley to a height of over 5,000
feet, presenting a picturesque skyline visible from
many locations within the Preserve, while also
affording spectacular views of the Preserve and beyond.
Hart Peak is the prominent feature in the Castle
Mountains skyline at 5,543 feet. Views from Hart Peak
encompass vast wilderness and distinctive peaks,
including Spirit Mountain in Nevada, a sacred site to
many Native American tribes. The remoteness of the
Castle Mountains area offers visitors the chance to
experience the solitude of the desert and its
increasingly rare natural soundscapes and dark night
skies.

The Castle Mountains area provides a critical linkage
for plants, animals, and water between two mountain
ranges within the Preserve, the New York Mountains to
the northwest and the Piute Mountains to the southeast.
The area's high quality desert habitat includes some of
the finest Joshua tree forest in the Mojave Desert, as
well as pinyon pine and juniper forest at the upper
elevations. The area's native desert grassland is a
hotspot of botanical diversity. The unique plant
assemblage includes 28 species of native grasses, about
half of which are rare, including burrograss and false
buffalograss.

Protection of this relatively intact and undisturbed
habitat is important not just to the long-term survival
of many plant species but also to significant wildlife
populations. A herd of desert bighorn sheep lives on
the steep, rocky slopes of the Castle Mountains. They
and other wildlife traverse the area between the Piute
Mountains and the New York Mountains. Numerous bat
species live in rock crevices and mine remnants in the
area. Wildlife species of special concern include the
Townsend's big-eared bat, California leaf-nosed bat,
Swainson's hawk, golden eagle, desert tortoise,
Bendire's thrasher, and gray vireo.

With its habitat linkages, wildlife corridors, and
intact ecosystems, the area offers exceptional
opportunities to study plant and animal movement and
connections between diverse natural systems, especially
in the context of climate change. Ongoing studies of
desert bighorn sheep and other plant and animal species
have shown the priority of this area for scientific
research. A recent study using network models of
bighorn sheep genetic and demographic connectivity as
tools for landscape-scale conservation found the Castle
Mountains habitat to be one of the most important in
the Mojave

Desert. Botanists are finding new and rare plant
populations, and significant new information regarding
the range of species such as Mexican panicgrass, in the
Castle Mountains area.

The Castle Mountains area is the only remaining portion
of the 226-square mile Lanfair Valley watershed that is
not part of the Preserve. Underlying much of the
Lanfair Valley, including the Castle Mountains area, is
a large groundwater aquifer of critical importance to
the desert ecosystem. With its primary recharge zone in
the New York Mountains, this aquifer feeds Piute
Spring, located in the Preserve just south of the
Castle Mountains area. Piute Spring is the only
perennial stream and riparian corridor in the Preserve,
and attracts numerous flora and fauna.

As a rare desert water source, Piute Spring attracted
Native American habitation for thousands of years,
followed by Euro-American exploration and settlement.
Drawn to this reliable source of potable water, in 1867
the U.S. Army established Fort Piute (listed on the
National Register of Historic Places) adjacent to the
spring to provide protection to travelers on the Old
Spanish Trail (known locally as the Mojave Road) that
crossed the Mojave Desert from the Colorado River to
San Bernardino, California. Maintenance of the
groundwater resources and flow to Piute Spring is
essential to the historical and scientific value of
both the area and the Preserve.

The Castle Mountains area also contains other cultural
resources that reflect a long history of prehistoric
and historic human use. Prehistoric rock art and
archeological sites are found throughout the area. The
rock art indicates sites of significant cultural import
to both the Fort Mojave and Chemehuevi Tribes, marking
routes through the Castle Mountains likely traveled by
both tribes. The Castle Mountains area links places to
the south, like Piute Spring, to areas north, such as
an obsidian collection site. Western expansion brought
ranching, mining, and the railroad to the area. Some of
the best-preserved segments of a wagon road that linked
the Arizona Territory (Hardyville, now Bullhead City,
Arizona) to settlements in southern California can be
found in the Castle Mountains area. Ranchers grazed
cattle in the area. By 1894, the Rock Springs Land and
Cattle Company had consolidated its holdings in the
eastern Mojave Desert. Much of their historic ranch
lies within the Preserve, and features of this and
other grazing enterprises of the era can still be seen
in the Castle Mountains area. In 1907, brothers Bert
and Clark Hitt found rich gold ore, staking claims that
became the Oro Belle and Big Chief Mines. With James
Hart, they founded the town of Hart at the base of Hart
Peak. Between 1908 and 1910, the town of Hart underwent
a rapid boom and bust, and by 1920, Hart had become a
ghost town. Throughout this period of western
expansion, railroads served the ranchers, miners, Hart
residents, and others in the eastern Mojave Desert.
Part of the former 23-mile Barnwell and Searchlight
Railway, later incorporated into the California Eastern
Railway, ran through the Castle Mountains area.

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 and
protect the historic and scientific objects in the
Castle Mountains area;

WHEREAS, the protection of the Castle Mountains area's
outstanding objects of historic and scientific interest
would also contribute to the protection of the
resources and values of the Preserve;

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 Castle Mountains 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, which is attached to and forms a part
of this proclamation. The reserved Federal lands and
interests in lands encompass approximately 20,920
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. 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.

Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to enlarge
or diminish the rights of any Indian tribe. The
Secretary of the Interior (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).

The Secretary shall manage these lands through the
National Park Service, pursuant to applicable
authorities, consistent with the purposes and
provisions of this proclamation. 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. For the
purpose of protecting the objects identified above, all
motorized and mechanized vehicle use off road will be
prohibited, except for emergency or authorized
administrative purposes.

The Secretary shall continue to manage the Federal
lands and interests in lands within the adjacent area
labelled ``Castle Mountain Mine Area'' on the
accompanying map through the Bureau of Land Management,
pursuant to applicable authorities. Upon the
determination of the Secretary that either (1) all
mining and mining-related activities have terminated
and reclamation has been completed, or (2) a period of
10 years from the date of this proclamation has elapsed
during which no commercial mining activities have
occurred pursuant to a Bureau of Land Management
approved plan of operations, the Secretary shall,
consistent with applicable legal authorities, transfer
jurisdiction of the lands within the Castle Mountain
Mine Area to the National Park Service and ensure that
the lands are managed in a manner compatible with the
proper care and management of the objects identified
above.

Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to enlarge
or diminish the jurisdiction of the State of California
with respect to fish and wildlife management.

The Federal land managing agencies shall, in
cooperation with appropriate State officials and
subject to applicable State and Federal law, ensure the

availability of water resources, including groundwater
resources, needed for monument purposes.

Nothing in this proclamation shall restrict or preclude
low level overflights of military aircraft, the
designation of new units of special use airspace, or
the use or establishment of military flight training
routes over the lands reserved by this proclamation,
consistent with the care and management of the objects
to be protected.

Nothing in this proclamation shall be construed to
alter the authority or responsibility of any party with
respect to emergency response activities within the
monument, including wildland fire response.

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 this monument and not to locate or settle upon any
of the lands thereof.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
twelfth day of February, in the year of our Lord two
thousand sixteen, and of the Independence of the United
States of America the two hundred and fortieth.

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