Proc. 7319 Title 3--The President Proclamation 7319 of June 9, 2000 Establishment of the Hanford Reach National Monument By the President of the United States of America A Proclamation The Hanford Reach National Monument is a unique and biologically di- verse landscape, encompassing an array of scientific and historic objects. This magnificent area contains an irreplaceable natural and historic legacy, preserved by unusual circumstances. Maintained as a buffer area in a Fed- eral reservation conducting nuclear weapons development and, moro confly, environmental doanup activities, with limits on development and human use for the past 50 years, the monument is now a haven for impor- tant and increasingly scarce objects of scientific and historic interest. Bi- sected by the stunning Hanford Roach of the Columbia River, the monu- ment contains the largest remnant of the shrub-steppe ecosystem that once blanketed the Columbia River Basin. The monument is also one of the few remaining archaeologically rich areas in the western Columbia Plateau, containing well-preserved remnants of human history spanning more than 10,000 years. The monument is equally rich in geologic history, with dra- matic landscapes that reveal the creative forces of tectonic, volcanic, and erosive power. The monument is a biological treasure, embracing important riparian, aquatic, and upland shrub-steppe habitats that are rare or in decline in other areas. Within its mosaic of habitats, the monument supports a wealth of increasingly uncommon native plant and animal species, the size and di- versity of which is unmatched in the Columbia Basin. Migrating salmon, birds, and hundreds of other native plant and animal species rely on its natural ecosystems. The monument includes the 51-mile long "Hanford Reach," the last free- flowing, nontidal stretch of the Columbia River. The Reach contains is- lands, riffles, gravel bars, oxbow ponds, and backwater sloughs that support some of the most productive spawning areas in the Northwest, where ap- proximately 80 percent of the upper Columbia Basin's fall chinook salmon spawn. It also supports healthy runs of naturally-spawning sturgeon and other highly-valued fish species. The loss of other spawning grounds on the Columbia and its tributaries has increased the importance of the Hanford Reach for fisheries. The monument contains one of the last remaining large blocks of shrub- steppe ecosystems in the Columbia River Basin, supporting an unusually high diversity of native plant and animal species. A large number of rare and sensitive plant species are found dispersed throughout the monument. A recent inventory resulted in the discovery of two plant species new to science, the Umtanum desert buckwheat and the White Bluffs bladderpod. Fragile microbiotic crusts, themselves of biological interest, are well devel- oped in the monument and play an important role in stabilizing soils and providing nutrients to plants. The monument contains significant breeding populations of nearly all steppe and shrub-steppe dependent birds, including the loggerhead shrike, the sage sparrow, the sage thrasher, and the ferruginous hawk. The Hanford Reach and surrounding wetlands provide important stop-over habitat for 102
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