Office of the Secretary

Contact: Tim Ahern (202)208-6416

For Immediate Release: August 11, 2000

Babbitt Makes Monument Recommendations to President Clinton

Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt today sent President Clinton recommendations that a new national monument should be created in Arizona, and another existing monument expanded in Idaho, under the Antiquities Act of 1906.

He proposed creation of the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument in northern Arizona, near the Grand Canyon. In addition, the current Craters of the Moon National Monument in central Idaho would be expanded.

"Both of these recommendations cover unique, spectacular landscapes," said Babbitt. "So far, they have been untouched by development or sprawl, but the West is expanding rapidly, and this is the time to act. If we protect these wonderful open spaces now, future generations will be able to marvel at them just as we do."

In recent months, Babbitt has visited both areas a number of times to meet with local residents and officials.

The 1906 Antiquities Act authorizes the President to create national monuments on federal land to protect objects of historic or scientific interest. More than 100 national monuments have been created by almost every president, including some of the nation's best-loved places such as the Grand Canyon.

Vermilion Cliffs - The proposal covers 293,000 acres of federal land on the Colorado Plateau in northern Arizona. The area is a geologic treasure, covering the Paria Plateau and the Vermilion Cliffs and ranging in elevations from 3,100 feet to 7,100 feet. The area contains a number of ancestral human sites. It would be managed by the Bureau of Land Management.

Craters of the Moon - The current Craters of the Moon monument, created by President Coolidge in 1924, covers 54,440 acres of craters and lava flows. The expansion would add an additional 661,000 acres of federal land, primarily south of the current monument, to encompass the entire lave field. The lava flows in the additional land would be managed by the National Park Service, while the rest of the land would continue to be managed by the Bureau of Land Management.

Note to Editors: Maps of the proposed sites can be viewed at:

http://www.doi.gov/doipress/newmonuments.htm

-DOI-

Proposed Vermilion Cliffs National Monument

Location: The proposed monument is located on the Colorado Plateau in northern Arizona, and includes the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness. It borders the Kaibab National Forest to the west, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area to the east, the state of Utah to the north, and highway 89A to the south.

Description: The proposed monument is remote and unspoiled, qualities essential to the protection of the scientific and historic objects it contains. This 293,000 acre proposed monument is a geologic treasure, containing the majestic Paria Plateau, the brilliant Vermilion Cliffs, and the Paria River Canyon, and spans elevations from 3,100 to 7,100 feet above sea level. Humans have explored and lived on the plateau and surrounding canyons for thousands of years, since the earliest known hunters and gatherers crossed the area 12,000 or more years ago. The area contains high densities of Ancestral Puebloan sites, including remnants of large and small villages, some with intact standing walls, fieldhouses, trails, granaries, burials, and camps.

Many historic expeditions crossed through the proposed monument, including the Dominquez-Escalante expedition of Spanish explorers in 1776, Antonio Armijo's 1829 Mexican trading expedition in 1829, and Mormon exploring parties in the 1860s led by Jacob Hamblin. The settlement of the proposed monument area by Mormon pioneers overlapped with another historic exploration by John Wesley Powell, who passed through the proposed monument during his scientific surveys of 1871. The proposed monument also contains outstanding biological objects which have been preserved by remoteness and limited travel corridors. Its vegetation is a unique combination of cold desert flora and warm desert grassland, and includes one threatened species, Welsh's milkweed. Twenty species of raptors have been documented in the proposed monument, as well as a variety of reptiles and amphibians. California Condors have been reintroduced into the proposed monument, and Desert bighorn sheep, pronghorn antelope, mountain lion, and other mammals roam the canyons and plateaus. The Paria River supports sensitive native fish, including the flannelmouth sucker and the speckled dace.

Management: The federal lands within the proposed monument are managed by the Department of the Interior through the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). This arrangement will continue, but will be subject to the overriding purposes of protecting the identified scientific and historic objects. Currently permitted livestock grazing, hunting, fishing, bicycling, and similar activities will generally not be affected, nor will the designation affect state (approximately 13,000 acres) or private property (450 acres) or other valid existing rights such as water rights or access. Water for the proposed monument is protected by the pre-existing federal water right in the wilderness area. There are no mineral leases and no known potential for oil, natural gas, or geothermal development in the proposed monument.

Process: Approximately 89,000 acres within the proposed monument were designated by Congress as the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness Area in 1984. The Paria Plateau was given the administrative designation of a Resource Conservation Area in the 1992 BLM Arizona Strip Resource Management Plan.

Beginning in June 2000, Secretary Babbitt made three trips to the area and met with local elected officials, lodge owners, ranching interests, chamber of commerce representatives, and other interested groups to discuss protecting the area.

Craters of the Moon National Monument Boundary Enlargement

Location: The Craters of the Moon National Monument in central Idaho, approximately 160 miles east of Boise, was first proclaimed in 1924 by President Coolidge. Currently, it comprises 54,440 acres. The expansion brings into the monument approximately 661,000 additional acres of federal land, primarily south of the current boundary.

Description: President Coolidge described the volcanic features of Craters of the Moon as of "unusual scientific value and general interest" - an assertion proven true many times over by the progression of scientists who have studied the lava field and its distinctive flora and fauna, by the NASA astronauts who explored the Monument in preparation for their mission to the Moon, and by a quarter-million annual visitors.

The expansion takes in almost all the features of basaltic volcanism, including the craters, cones, lava flows, caves and fissures of the 65 mile long Great Rift, a geological feature that is comparable to the great rift zones of Iceland and Hawaii. It comprises the most diverse and geologically recent part of the lava terrain that covers the southern Snake River Plain, a broad plain made up of innumerable basalt lava flows that erupted during the past five million years. The unusual scientific value of the expanded monument is the great diversity of exquisitely preserved volcanic features within a relatively small area.

Management: The younger exposed lava flows, comprising approximately 410,512 acres, will be managed by the National Park Service. The shrub-steppe lands historically used for grazing within the expansion, comprising approximately 250,775 acres, will continue under the management of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The land remaining under BLM management also contains important geological features, such as the 15 mile Bear Trap lava tube and the exposed creases in the earth of the Great Rift that connect the Craters of the Moon and Wapi lava flows. The entire area will be managed for the predominant purpose of protecting the geological and other features for which the monument has been created. Currently permitted livestock grazing, hunting, fishing, bicycling, and similar activities will generally not be affected, nor will private property within the boundary (approximately 6,994 acres) or other valid existing rights such as water rights or access. There are no mineral leases and no known potential for oil, natural gas, or geothermal development in the monument.

Process: The boundary of the monument has been adjusted by Presidential Proclamation on four occasions, in 1928, 1930, 1941, and 1962. In 1989-90, then Rep. Richard Stallings introduced legislation to create Craters of the Moon National Park, a proposal that included almost twice as many acres as this monument expansion proposal.

Since April 2000, Secretary Babbitt has visited the area three times and led a process to solicit public input and advice about the future management and protection of the Craters of the Moon region, meeting with leading geologists, local ranchers, local elected officials, and staff from the Idaho Congressional delegation. Three public meetings were held in May and June 2000 in nearby communities to discuss the area's possible designation as a national monument. Senator Craig also held a field hearing on June 17, 2000, on the monument expansion. On August 11, 2000, Secretary Babbitt recommended the expansion of Craters of the Moon National Monument to the President.