Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 74.djvu/1262

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PROCLAMATION 3339-MAR. 15, 1960

ESTABLISHING THE KEY LARGO CORAL REEF PRESERVE ^TNO 3339r°

^^ ^^^ President of the United States of America A Proclamation WHEREAS there is situated seaward from the coast of Key Largo, Florida, an undersea coral reef formation which is part of the only living coral reef formation along the coast of North America; and WHEREAS this unique coral formation and its associated marine life are of great scientific interest and value to students of the sea; and WHEREAS this coral reef is considered to be one of the most beautiful formations of its kind in the world; and WHEREAS the reef is being subjected to commercial exploitation and is in danger of destruction; and WHEREAS it is in the public interest to preserve this formation of great scientific and esthetic importance for the benefit and enjoyment of the people; and WHEREAS a portion of this reef lies inside the three-mile limit in the area relinquished to the State of Florida by the United States through the Submerged Lands Act, approved May 22, 1953 (67 Stat. 29; 43 U.S.C. 1301 et seq.), and the remainder lies on the sea bed of the outer Continental Shelf outside the seaward boundary of the State of Florida and appertains to the United States, as declared by the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, approved August 7. 1953 (67 Stat. 462; 43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.); and WHEREAS the United States and the State of Florida are desirous of cooperating for the purpose of preserving the scenic and scientific values of this area unimpaired for the benefit of future generations; and WHEREAS by the terms of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act the United States has jurisdiction over the lands of the outer Continental Shelf and has the exclusive right to dispose of the natural

[74 STAT.

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