1442
PROCLAMATION 3443-DEC. 28, 1961
[76 STAT.
WHEREAS this unique natural area and the rare marine life which are dependent upon it are subject to constant threat of commercial exploitation and destruction; and WHEREAS the Advisory Board on National Parks, Historic Sites, Buildings and Monuments, established pursuant to the act of August 21, 1935, 49 Stat. 666 (16 U.S.C. 463), impressed by the caliber and scientific importance of the coral reefs of Buck Island, has urged their prompt protection to prevent further despoliation; and WHEREAS the Governor of the Virgin Islands, under the authority vested in him by the legislative assembly of the Virgin Islands by an act approved December 5, 1961, has relinquished to the United States, for the purposes of facilitating the establishment and administration of a national monument for the protection of the abovementioned areas and objects of historic and scientific interest, such control as is vested in the Government of the Virgin Islands by the said act of Congress dated June 22, 1936, over the area hereinafter described; subject, however, to the condition that the United States, including any agency or instrumentality thereof, shall not adopt or attempt to enforce any rule, regulation or requirement limiting, restricting or reducing the existing fishing (including the landing of boats and the laying of fishpots outside of the marine garden), bathing or recreational privileges by inhabitants of the Virgin Islands, and shall not charge any fees for admission to the area. WHEREAS it is in the public interest to preserve this area of outstanding scientific, aesthetic, and educational importance for the benefit and enjoyment of the people: NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOHN F. KENNEDY, President of the United States of America, under and by virtue of 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, subject to valid existing rights, there is hereby reserved and set apart, as the Buck Island Reef National Monument, the area embraced within lines drawn between the coordinates of latitude and longitude recited as follows: Beginning at latitude 17°47'58" N., longitude 64°38'16" W.; thence approximately 10,450 feet to latitude 17°47'30" N., longitude 6436'32" W.; thence approximately 1,500 feet to latitude 17°47'15" N., longitude 64°36'32" W.; thence approximately 4,500 feet to latitude 1747'00" N., longitude 64°37'16" W.; thence approximately 8,600 feet to latitude 17°47'35" N., longitude 6438'37" W.; and thence approximately 3,075 feet to latitude 17°47'58" N., longitude 6438'16" W., the place of beginning, embracing an area of approximately 850 acres.
W A R N I N G is expressly given to all unauthorized persons not to appropriate, injure, destroy, deface, or remove any feature of this monument and not to locate or settle upon any of the lands reserved for the monument by this proclamation. The Secretary of the Interior shall have the supervision, management, and control of this monument as provided in the act of Congress entitled "An act to establish a National Park Service, and for other purposes," approved August 25, 1916, 39 Stat. 535 (16 U.S.C. 1-3), and all acts supplementary thereto and amendatory thereof: Provided, that neither the Department of the Interior, nor any other agency or instrumentality of the United States, shall adopt or attempt to enforce any rule, regulation or requirement limiting, restricting or reducing the existing fishing (including the landing of boats and the laying of fishpots outside of the marine garden), bathing or recreational privileges by inhabitants of the Virgin Islands, or charge any fees for admission to the area.
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