Castle Mountains National Monument
{{short description|Protected area in Mojave Desert, California}}
{{Infobox protected area
| name = Castle Mountains National Monument
| photo = Castle Mountains and Joshua Trees.jpg
| photo_alt = Castle Peaks in the background.
| photo_caption = Castle Peaks (Mojave National Preserve) as seen from Castle Mountains National Monument
| map = California#USA
| relief = 1
| map_alt =
| map_caption =
| map_width =
| location = San Bernardino County, California
| nearest_city =
| coordinates = {{coord|35.25|N|115.11|W|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| coords_ref =
| area = {{convert|20,920|acre}}
| authorized = {{start date|2016|02|12}}
| visitation_num =
| visitation_year =
| visitation_ref =
| governing_body = National Park Service
| embedded1 =
| website = [https://www.nps.gov/camo/index.htm Castle Mountains National Monument]
}}
File:New national monuments Mojave 2016.jpg
Castle Mountains National Monument is a U.S. National Monument located in the eastern Mojave Desert and northeastern San Bernardino County, in the state of California.[https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/02/12/presidential-proclamation-establishment-castle-mountains-national Whitehouse.gov: Presidential Proclamation − Establishment of the Castle Mountains National Monument], February 12, 2016.[http://www.latimes.com/science/la-me-monuments-20160212-story.html Los Angeles Times: "Volcanic spires and Joshua trees: Obama protects 1.8 million acres in California's desert"], February 11, 2016, by Louis Sahagun; accessed February 14, 2016.[http://californiadesert.org/swp/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/FINAL-CM-Fact-Sheet.pdf Campaign for the California Desert.org: Fact sheet for Castle Mountains National Monument]
The park protects 20,920 acres, located between the interstates I−15 and I−40, and northwest of the Colorado River.
Geography
The national monument protects a section of the Castle Mountains, a range located in San Bernardino County and Clark County, Nevada. The range lies south and east of the New York Mountains, southwest of Searchlight and west of Cal-Nev-Ari, Nevada. The range lies at the northeastern end of Lanfair Valley and reaches {{convert|5543|ft|m}} in elevation at the summit of Hart Peak and 5580 ft at Linder Peak. The mountains lie in a southwest-northeasterly direction. The Piute Range lies to the southeast.{{Cite news|title = Obama creates 3 new national monuments to protect 1.8 million acres of California desert|url = http://www.latimes.com/science/la-me-monuments-20160212-story.html|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|access-date = 2016-02-12|last = Sahagun|first = Louis|date = February 11, 2016}}
Castle Mountains National Monument is surrounded on three sides by the Mojave National Preserve, managed by the National Park Service.
It surrounds the Castle Mountain Mine Area, an open pit gold mine in the southern Castle Mountains owned by Canadian NewCastle Gold Ltd., who can excavate nearly 10 million tons of ore through 2025, though due to low gold prices mining has been suspended since 2001.[http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/newcastles-gold-project-not-included-in-new-castle-mountain-monument-tsx-venture-nca-2096443.htm Marketwired.com: "NewCastle's Gold Project not included in New Castle Mountain Monument"] . accessed February 14, 2016. The national monument proclamation states that after any such mining and reclamation are completed, or after 10 years if no mining occurs, the Federal land in the 8,340 acre Castle Mountain Mine Area is to be transferred to the National Park Service.
Designation and management
It was designated by President Obama on February 12, 2016, along with Mojave Trails National Monument and Sand to Snow National Monument also in Southern California.
{{cite news|last1=Eilperin|first1=Juliet|title=With 3 new monuments, Obama creates world's second-largest desert preserve|date= February 12, 2016|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=14 February 2016|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/02/12/with-3-new-monuments-obama-creates-worlds-second-largest-desert-preserve/}} Of the three it is the only one to be managed by the National Park Service, with the other two being placed under the control of the Bureau of Land Management and/or the United States Forest Service.[https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/02/12/presidential-proclamation-establishment-mojave-trails-national-monument Whitehouse.gov: Presidential Proclamation − Establishment of the Mojave Trails National Monument], February 12, 2016 — "The Secretary of the Interior shall manage the monument through the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) as a unit of the National Landscape Conservation System[http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/prog/nlcs/Mojave_Trails.html BLM California: Mojave Trails National Monument website] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160216044509/http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/prog/nlcs/Mojave_Trails.html |date=2016-02-16 }}[https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2016/02/12/presidential-proclamation-establishment-sand-snow-national-monument Whitehouse.gov: Presidential Proclamation − Establishment of the Sand to Snow National Monument], February 12, 2016 — "The USFS shall manage that portion of the monument within the boundaries of the San Bernardino National Forest, and BLM shall manage the remainder of the monument."[http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/prog/nlcs/Sand-to-Snow.html BLM California: Sand to Snow National Monument website] (83,000 acres)[http://www.fs.fed.us/sites/default/files/S2S-QAs-final-NoMap.pdf USDA Forest Service: Sand to Snow National Monument webpage] (71,000 acres).
See also
- List of national monuments of the United States
- {{C|Natural history of the Mojave Desert}}
- {{C|Protected areas of the Mojave Desert}}
- {{C|Mojave National Preserve|Mojave National Preserve topics}}
References
{{Reflist|26em}}
External links
- [https://www.nps.gov/camo/index.htm National Park Service: official Castle Mountains National Monument website]
- [http://californiadesert.org/project/castle-mountains-national-monument/ Campaign for the California Desert.org: Castle Mountains National Monument] — natural and cultural features.
- [http://westernmininghistory.com/mine_detail/10310700 Site location of Castle Mountain Mine, adjacent south of Hart, California, at south region of Castle Mountains]
{{Protected areas of California}}
{{National Monuments of the United States}}
{{authority control}}
Category:National Park Service national monuments in California
Category:Parks in San Bernardino County, California
Category:Protected areas of the Mojave Desert
Category:Protected areas established in 2016