Babbitt Asks Clinton to Designate New Monument Areas

A grassy plain in California, two coral reef areas in the Virgin Islands and landmarks of the Lewis and Clark expedition in Montana would become national monuments under recommendations Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt sent Friday to President Clinton.

Monument designations would give greater protection to the five areas, which are owned by the federal government. The new protections would likely include bans or restrictions on vehicle use and prohibitions on mining and oil drilling.

Babbitt’s recommendations include Carrizo Plain, 204,000 acres of rolling grassland between San Luis Obispo and Bakersfield. The area is home to several endangered species, American Indian sacred sites and a portion of the San Andreas Fault.

Also on the list are the Upper Missouri River Breaks, 377,000 acres along 149 miles of the river in north-central Montana that Lewis and Clark traversed in 1805. The other Lewis and Clark site, Pompeys Pillar, is a 150-foot sandstone outcropping along the Yellowstone River east of Billings, Mont.

Babbitt also includes Virgin Islands Coral Reef, a nearly 13,000-acre area off St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands. He also wants to expand the Virgin Islands’ Buck Island Reef National Monument.