§410ooo Findings

Summary

Congress finds that Pinnacles National Monument was created by Presidential Proclamation 796 on January 16, 1908, and later expanded by several proclamations and Public Law 94–567, including Proclamation 7266 of January 11, 2000. The area now protects more than its famous rock formations. It shelters many plants and animals, including 32 species with special Federal or State status, and includes 14,500 acres of Congress-designated wilderness. Pinnacles also holds a long human history from prehistoric Native Americans through Spanish arrival and 18th–19th century settlers like miners, vaqueros, ranchers, and homesteaders. It is the only National Park System site in the California Condor’s ancestral range, and reintroducing the condor there is important. Scientists at the Los Angeles Zoo, San Diego Zoo, and Buenos Aires Zoo rely on Pinnacles for condor recovery. Protecting these natural and cultural resources needs cooperation among local landowners, federal, State, and local governments, and private partners.