Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 93.djvu/1482

 93 STAT. 1450

PROCLAMATION 4613—DEC. 1, 1978

Proclamation 4613

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December 1, 1978

Becharof National Monument

By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation This monument on the Alaska Peninsula supports one of the densest known populations of the great Alaska brown bear. This area encompasses habitat used by a discrete population of bears for denning and foraging, both north and south of Becharof Lake. At the southern end of Becharof Lake, several hundred bears concentrate during salmon spawning season. Certain of the bears make th«?ir dens in the area on islands a few feet above the water level, a unique phenomenon of great interest in the study of this great carnivore. Deeply worn bear trails also indicate decades of extensive use, making this area important to the study of the bears' long term habits and population fluctuation. Rich salmon spawning habitats and the presence of such prey species as caribou and moose are key factors in the intensive use of the area by the bears. The biology of the brown bears, their habitat and associated plant and animal species within the monument, together with other ecological features of the area, combine to offer excellent opportunities for scientific study and research. The area is interesting and significant geologically, as it contains one of Alaska's most recent volcanically active areas, the Gas Rocks under Mount Peulik. Studies here of recent volcanism may contribute to the growing understanding of this powerful geological force. The land withdrawn and reserved by this Proclamation for the protection of the geological, biological and other phenomena enumerated above supports now, as it has in the past, the unique subsistence culture of the local residents. The cohtinued existence of this culture, which depends on subsistence hunting, and its availability for study, enhance the historic and scientific values of the natural objects protected herein because of the ongoing interaction of the subsistence culture with those objects. Accordingly, the opportunity for the local residents to engage in subsistence hunting is a value to be protected and will continue under the administration of the monument. 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 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. NOW, THEREFORE, I, JIMMY CARTER, 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 L'.S.C. 431), do proclaim that there are hereby set apart and reserved as the Becharof National Monument all lands, including submerged lands, and waters owned or controlled by the United States within the boundaries of the area depicted as Becharof National Monument on the map numbered FWS-81-00-0414 attached to and forming a part of this Proclamation. * The area reserved consists of approximately 1,200,000 acres, and is the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected. Lands, including submerged lands, and waters within these boundaries not owned by the United States shall be

I'hc map depicting the area is primed in the Federal Register of December 5, 1978 (43 FR 57021).

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