[United States Statutes at Large, Volume 125, 112th Congress, 1st Session]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

 
Proclamation 8750 of November 1, 2011

Establishment of the Fort Monroe National Monument
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
Known first as ``The Gibraltar of the Chesapeake'' and later as
``Freedom's Fortress,'' Fort Monroe on Old Point Comfort in Virginia has
a storied history in the defense of our Nation and the struggle for
freedom.
Fort Monroe, designed by Simon Bernard and built of stone and brick
between 1819 and 1834 in part by enslaved labor, is the largest of the
Third System of fortifications in the United States. It has been a
bastion of defense of the Chesapeake Bay, a stronghold of the Union Army
surrounded by the Confederacy, a place of freedom for the enslaved, and
the imprisonment site of Chief Blackhawk and the President of the
Confederacy, Jefferson Davis. It served as the U.S. Army's Coastal
Defense Artillery School during the 19th and 20th centuries, and most re

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cently, as headquarters of the U.S. Army's Training and Doctrine
Command.
Old Point Comfort in present day Hampton, Virginia, was originally named
``Pointe Comfort'' by Captain John Smith in 1607 when the first English
colonists came to America. It was here that the settlers of Jamestown
established Fort Algernon in 1609. After Fort Algernon's destruction by
fire in 1612, successive English fortifications were built, testifying
to the location's continuing strategic value. The first enslaved
Africans in England's colonies in America were brought to this peninsula
on a ship flying the Dutch flag in 1619, beginning a long ignoble period
of slavery in the colonies and, later, this Nation. Two hundred and
forty-two years later, Fort Monroe became a place of refuge for those
later generations escaping enslavement.
During the Civil War, Fort Monroe stood as a foremost Union outpost in
the midst of the Confederacy and remained under Union Army control
during the entire conflict. The Fort was the site of General Benjamin
Butler's ``Contraband Decision'' in 1861, which provided a pathway to
freedom for thousands of enslaved people during the Civil War and served
as a forerunner of President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation
of 1863. Thus, Old Point Comfort marks both the beginning and end of
slavery in our Nation. The Fort played critical roles as the springboard
for General George B. McClellan's Peninsula Campaign in 1862 and as a
crucial supply base for the siege of Petersburg by Union forces under
General Ulysses S. Grant in 1864 and 1865. After the surrender of the
Confederacy, Confederate President Jefferson Davis was transferred to
Fort Monroe and remained imprisoned there for 2 years.
Fort Monroe is the third oldest United States Army post in continuous
active service. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960
and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It
provides an excellent opportunity for the public to observe and
understand Chesapeake Bay and Civil War history. At the northern end of
the North Beach area lies the only undeveloped shoreline remaining on
Old Point Comfort, providing modern-day visitors a sense of what earlier
people saw when they arrived in the New World. The North Beach area also
includes coastal defensive batteries, including Batteries DeRussy and
Church, which were used from the 19th Century to World War II.
WHEREAS section 2 of the Act of June 8, 1906 (34 Stat. 225, 16 U.S.C.
431) (the ``Antiquities Act''), authorizes the President, in 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 a part thereof parcels of land, 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;
WHEREAS the 2005 Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission
recommended that Fort Monroe cease to be used as an Army installation,
and pursuant to the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1990
(Public Law 101-510), Fort Monroe closed on September 15, 2011;

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WHEREAS the Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, Members of
Congress, the Fort Monroe Authority, the City of Hampton, Virginia, and
other surrounding counties and cities have expressed support for
establishing a unit of the National Park System at Fort Monroe;
WHEREAS it is in the public interest to preserve Fort Monroe, portions
of Old Point Comfort, and certain lands and buildings necessary for the
care and management of the Fort and Point as the Fort Monroe National
Monument;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of
America, by the authority vested in me by section 2 of the Antiquities
Act, hereby proclaim that all lands and interests in lands owned or
controlled by the Government of the United States within the boundaries
described on the accompanying map, which is attached to and forms a part
of this proclamation, are hereby set apart and reserved as the Fort
Monroe National Monument (monument) for the purpose of protecting the
objects identified above. The reserved Federal lands and interests in
lands encompass approximately 325.21 acres, together with appurtenant
easements for all necessary purposes, which is the smallest area
compatible with the proper care and management of the objects to be
protected.
All Federal lands and interests in lands within the boundaries of this
monument are hereby appropriated and withdrawn from all forms of entry,
location, selection, sale, leasing, or other disposition under the
public land laws, including withdrawal from location, entry, and patent
under the mining laws, and from disposition under all laws relating to
mineral and geothermal leasing. Lands and interests in lands within the
monument's boundaries not owned or controlled by the United States shall
be reserved as part of the monument upon acquisition of ownership or
control by the United States.
The lands and interests in lands within the monument's boundaries,
except for the Old Point Comfort Lighthouse, are currently managed by
the Secretary of the Army. The Secretaries of the Army and the Interior
shall enter into a memorandum of agreement that identifies and assigns
the responsibilities of each agency related to such lands and interests
in lands, the implementing actions required of each agency, the
processes for transferring administrative jurisdiction over such lands
and interests in lands to the Secretary of the Interior, and the
processes for resolving interagency disputes. After issuance of this
proclamation, the Secretary of the Army, in consultation with the
Secretary of the Interior, acting through the National Park Service,
will continue to manage the lands and interests in lands within the
monument boundaries, to the extent they remain in the ownership or
control of the Government of the United States, until the transfer to
the Secretary of the Interior is completed in accordance with the
memorandum of agreement. The Secretary of the Interior shall then manage
the monument through the National Park Service, pursuant to applicable
legal authorities, consistent with the purposes and provisions of this
proclamation, and in accordance with the memorandum of agreement.
The Old Point Comfort Lighthouse shall continue to be managed by the
Secretary of Homeland Security. Not later than 1 year after the date of
this proclamation, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of
Homeland Security shall enter into an interagency agreement that, to the
extent requested by the United States Coast Guard, provides for ap

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propriate National Park Service interpretation of the Old Point Comfort
Lighthouse for the public and for technical or financial assistance by
the National Park Service for building treatment and other preservation
activities. Nothing in this proclamation shall limit or interfere with
the authority of the Secretary of Homeland Security to use the Old Point
Comfort Lighthouse for navigational or national security purposes.
For the purpose of preserving, restoring, and enhancing the public
visitation and appreciation of the monument, the Secretary of the
Interior shall prepare a management plan for the monument within 3 years
of the date of this proclamation. The management plan will ensure that
the monument fulfill the following purposes for the benefit of present
and future generations: (1) to preserve historic, natural, and
recreational resources; (2) to provide land- and water-based
recreational opportunities; and (3) to communicate the historical
significance of the monument as described above. The management plan
shall, among other provisions, set forth the desired relationship of the
monument to other related resources, programs, and organizations in the
Hampton area and other locations, provide for maximum public involvement
in its development, and identify steps to be taken to provide
interpretive opportunities for the entirety of the Fort Monroe National
Historic Landmark and related sites in Hampton, Virginia. In developing
the management plan, the Secretary of the Interior shall consider the
Fort Monroe Reuse Plan, the Fort Monroe Programmatic Agreement dated
April 27, 2009 (and any amendments to the agreement), and the
Commonwealth of Virginia Fort Monroe Authority Act. Further, to the
extent authorized by law, the Secretary of the Interior shall promulgate
any additional regulations needed for the proper care and management of
the monument.
The establishment of this monument is subject to valid existing rights.
To the extent that the Commonwealth of Virginia holds any reversionary
rights in any Federal lands or interests in lands within the boundaries
of this monument, those rights are preserved and may operate or be
exercised in due course without affecting the existence or designated
boundaries of the monument. The Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia
and the Fort Monroe Authority, which would have responsibility for such
lands and interests in lands upon their reversion, have agreed in
principle to then relinquish to the United States ownership or control
of those lands and interests in lands, as stated in the Governor's
letter agreement of September 9, 2011. The Secretary of the Interior
shall accept the relinquishment of such lands and interests in lands on
behalf of the Government of the United States, at which point such lands
and interests in lands, reserved pursuant to this proclamation, shall be
managed by the Secretary of the Interior, through the National Park
Service, pursuant to applicable legal authorities, consistent with the
purposes and provisions of this proclamation, and in accordance with the
memorandum of agreement.
Nothing in this proclamation shall affect the responsibilities of the
Department of the Army under applicable environmental laws, including
the remediation of hazardous substances or munitions and explosives of
concern within the monument boundaries; nor affect the Department of the
Army's statutory authority to control public access or statutory
responsibility to make other measures for environmental remediation,
monitoring, security, safety or emergency preparedness purposes; nor

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affect any Department of the Army activities on lands not included
within the monument.
Nothing in this proclamation shall be deemed to revoke any existing
withdrawal, reservation, or appropriation; however, the monument shall
be the dominant reservation.
Warning is hereby given to all unauthorized persons not to appropriate,
injure, destroy, or remove any feature of this monument and not to
locate or settle upon any of the lands thereof.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of
November in the year of our Lord two thousand eleven, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-
sixth.
BARACK OBAMA


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