Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 93.djvu/1504

 93 STAT. 1472

PROCLAMATION 4626—DEC. 1, 1978

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 1st day of December, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred ans seventy-eight, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and third. JIMMY CARTER

Proclamation 4626

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Yukon-Chariey National Monument

December 1, 1978

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By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation The Yukon-Charley National Monument, an area in east-central Alaska, includes a combination of historic and scientific features of great significance. The Upper Yukon River basin contains historic remains of early mining activity, and includes outstanding paleontological resources and ecologically diverse natural resources, offering many opportunities for scientific and historic study and research. The area provides breeding habitat for the endangered peregrine falcon, and may produce about one-fourth of the known individuals of the anatum peregrine subspecies in its northern habitat. Wildlife also include isolated wild populations of Dall sheep, moose, bear, wolf, and other large mammals. Nearly 200 species of birds, including 20 different raptors, are present in the area. Geological and paleontological features within the area are exceptional, including a nearly unbroken visible series of rock strata representing a range in geologic time from pre-Cambrian to Recent. The oldest exposures contain fossils estimated to be 700 million years old, including the earliest forms of animal life. A large array of Ice Age fossils occurs in the area. Within the area is the Charley River basin, parts of which were unglaciated, preserving relict Pleistocene plant communities. The Charley River is considered to be one of the cleanest and clearest of the major rivers in Alaska, and thereby offers excellent opportunities for scientific studies. In the upper Charley River basin, artifacts occur dating back possibly 11,000 years, attesting to the presence of ancient hunters who were the ancestors of the modern Athapascan people. The land withdrawn and reserved by this Proclamation for the protection of the historical, archeological, biological, geological and other phenomena enumerated above supports now, as it has in the past, the unique subsistence culture of the local residents. The continued 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 U.S.C. 431), do proclaim that there are hereby set apart and reserved as the Yukon-Charley National Monument all lairds, including submerged lands, and waters owned or controlled by the United States within the boundaries of the area

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