PROCLAMATION 4623-DEC. 1, 1978
93 STAT. 1467
been periodic glacial advances and retreals in more recent historic periods. Some of the area has been free from glaciation for only a short period of time, creating the unusual scientific phenomenon of recent plant succession on newly-exposed land with the accompanying animal species. The Behm Canal, the major inlet at the heart of the area, is more than fifty miles long and extraordinary among natural canals for its length and depth. The watershed of the Unuk River, which comprises the northern portion of the Misty Fiords area, has its headwaters in Canada. It is steeply mountainous and glaciated and contains the full range of ecosystems and climates from interior to coastal. Mineral springs and lava flows add to the uniqueness of the area and its value for scientific investigation. South of the Unuk, the Chickamin River System and the Le Due River originate in active glaciers and terminate in Behm Canal. Further south, Rudyard Bay Fiords and Walker Cove are sunounded by high, cold lakes and mountains extending eastward to Canada. First inhabitants of Misty Fiords may have settled in the area as long ago as 10,000 years. The area contains cultural sites and objects of historical significance, including tradiiional native hunting and fishing grounds. Later historical evidence includes a mid-1800's military post-port entry on Tongass Island and a salmon cannery in Behm Canal established in the late 1800's. Misty Fiords is unique in that the area includes wildlife representative of nearly every ecosystem in Southeast Alaska, most notably bald eagles, brown and black bears, moose, wolves, mountain goats and Sitka black-tailed deer. Numerous other bird species nest and feed in the area, notably falcons and waterfowl. Misty Fiords is a major producer of all five species of Pacific salmon and is especially important for king salmon. Numerous other saltwater, freshwater and anadromous fish species and shellfish are plentiful in this area, which is an extraordinarily fertile interface of marine and freshwater environments. Unusual plantlife includes Pacific silver and subalpine fir trees near the northern limit of their range. The area includes an unusual variety of virgin forests, ranging from coastal spruce-hemlock to alpine forests. As an intact coastal ecosystem. Misty Fiords possesses a collective array of objects of outstanding value for continuing scientific study. The boundaries of the area follow watershed perimeters and include the smallest area compatible with protection of this unique ecosystem and the remarkable geologic and biological objects and features it contains. Hunting and fishing shall continue to be regulated, permitted and controlled in accord with the statutory authorities applicable to the monument area. Section 2 of the Act of June 8, 1906 (34 Stat. 225, 16 U.S.C. 431), authorizes the President, at 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 lands, 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 Misty Fiords National Monument all lands, including submerged lands, and waters owned or controlled by the United States within the boundaries of the area described on the document entitled "Misty Fiords National Monument (Copper River Meridian)", attached to and forming a part of this Proclamation.' The area reserved consists of approximately 2,285,000 acres, and is the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be protected. Lands, ' Thf ricsrnpiion of the boundaries and map are primed in the Federal Register of December 5 1978 (4.S FR 57089).
�
