The California Coastal National Monument is located along the entire coastline of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. This monument ensures the protection of all islets, reefs and rock outcroppings along the

coast of California Coastal California, also known as the California Coastline and the Golden Coast, refers to the coastal regions of the U.S. state of California. The term is not primarily geographical as it also describes an area distinguished by cultural, economic ...

within of shore along the entire long coastline. Conservative estimates are for at least 20,000 such outcroppings. The monument was created by

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

via

Presidential Presidential may refer to: * "Presidential" (song), a 2005 song by YoungBloodZ * Presidential Airways (charter), an American charter airline based in Florida * Presidential Airways (scheduled), an American passenger airline active in the 1980s * ...

proclamation on January 11, 2000, with the authority in section two of the

Antiquities Act The Antiquities Act of 1906 (, , ) is an act that was passed by the United States Congress and signed into law by Theodore Roosevelt on June 8, 1906. This law gives the president of the United States the authority to, by presidential proclam ...

of 1906. , the monument has expanded to . The U.S. Bureau of Land Management, an agency of the

U.S. Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal lands and natural resources. It also administers programs relating t ...

that manages the monument, has developed gateways in cooperation with other agencies along the California coast to introduce the monument to the public. These include the

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

, Point Arena, Fort Bragg-Mendocino, Pigeon Point Lighthouse, Piedras Blancas State Marine Reserve and Marine Conservation Area, and the

Palos Verdes Peninsula The Palos Verdes Peninsula () is a peninsular subregion of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, located within southwestern Los Angeles County, California. It is often called simply "Palos Verdes", and is made up of a group of cities in the Palos ...

. Although being the most-viewed national monument in California, people are usually unaware that the entire coastline is a national monument.

Expansion

The monument has seen two major expansions since its creation:

Point Arena-Stornetta Public Lands

On March 11, 2014, President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

used a

presidential proclamation In the United States, a presidential proclamation is a statement issued by the president of the United States on an issue of public policy. It is a type of presidential directive. Details A presidential proclamation is an instrument that: *s ...

to add the Point Arena-Stornetta Public Lands to the monument. The proclamation added of onshore areas to the existing monument, comprising the estuary of the

Garcia River The Garcia River is a river on the northern coast of California, in southern Mendocino County. The river's watershed covers and its mainstem is long. The watershed receives of precipitation per year near the coast and inland. The watershed's ...

. The Point Arena-Stornetta Public Lands is located on the Mendocino County Coast, north of the small town of Point Arena. Point Arena-Stornetta Public Lands will receive full federal protection and will be open to the public. The Point Arena-Stornetta Public Land was the first onshore segment of the national monument that visitors were allowed on. Under federal protection, the public is allowed to use the land for bird watching, fishing, picnicking,

nature photography Nature photography encompasses a wide range of photography taken outdoors and devoted to displaying natural elements such as landscapes, wildlife, plants, and close-ups of natural scenes and textures. Nature photography tends to place a stronger ...

, and wildlife observation. Overnight camping and parking is prohibited. Along the coastal area there are numerous sinkholes and unsteady cliffs. A bill adding this area passed the US House in 2013.

California Coastal National Monument Expansion Act

The California Coastal National Monument Expansion Act of 2017 added five coastal sites: at

Lost Coast The Lost Coast is a mostly natural and undeveloped area of the California North Coast in Humboldt and Mendocino counties, which includes the King Range. It was named the "Lost Coast" after the area experienced depopulation in the 1930s. In a ...

Headlands, at Trinidad Head, at Lighthouse Ranch in Humboldt County, from the Cotoni-Coast Dairies in Santa Cruz County and from Piedras Blancas in San Luis Obispo County. It also would include some small rocks and islands off the coast of Orange County, including the

San Mateo Rocks San Mateo Rocks are uninhabited islands that lie approximately off the coast of California, to the south of San Clemente, and just north of San Mateo Point, a minor headland that marks the border between Orange County and San Diego County. The ...

. In January 2017, President Obama used his executive power under the 1906 Antiquities Act to designate these sites as National Monuments.

Onshore units

Six onshore units comprise of public land: Trinidad Head, Waluplh-Lighthouse Ranch, Lost Coast Headlands, Point Arena-Stornetta, Cotoni-Coast Dairies, and Piedras Blancas.

Cotoni-Coast Dairies Unit

Cotoni-Coast Dairies National Monument is part of the California Coastal National Monument in

Santa Cruz County, California Santa Cruz County (), officially the County of Santa Cruz, is a county on the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 270,861. The county seat is Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz County comprises the Sa ...

, north of the city of

Davenport Davenport may refer to: Places Australia *Davenport, Northern Territory, a locality *Hundred of Davenport, cadastral unit in South Australia **Davenport, South Australia, suburb of Port Augusta **District Council of Davenport, former local govern ...

. For most of the 20th century, Coast Dairies was run as a farm and ranching operation by the descendants of two Swiss families. After it was purchased by Save the Redwoods League in 1998, it was transferred to Trust for Public Land. In 2006, about of its beaches to create

Coast Dairies State Park Coast Dairies is a state park in Santa Cruz County, California, near the city of Davenport. It is managed as part of Wilder Ranch State Park, which is south of the park. The new public lands protect a stretch of coastline and about of prime ...

.Coast Dairies State Park
at Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks Most of the rest of the land has been transferred to the Bureau of Land Management. In 2014, the

Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands, U.S. federal lands. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the BLM oversees more than of land, or one ...

bought a tract of land on the inland side of the highway adjacent to the coastal parcels. President

designated Cotoni-Coast Dairies as a National Monument in 2017. The Bureau of Land Management developed a management plan that was approved by the California Coastal Commission in 2020. Some of the land east of the highway will continue to be used for farming, but some will become open to the public. The plan divides the land into four zones. Two of those zones will allow public access, including trails for hiking, mountain biking, and equestrians. The other two zones will not allow public access. BLM is working with the

Amah Mutsun The Ohlone ( ), formerly known as Costanoans (from Spanish meaning 'coast dweller'), are a Native American people of the Northern California coast. When Spanish explorers and missionaries arrived in the late 18th century, the Ohlone inhabited ...

Tribal Band to preserve the cultural sites of the indigenous Cotoni people. The property includes critical wildlife habitats, coastal prairies, redwood forests, riparian canyons, six watersheds, and four registered ancestral Native American archaeological sites. Although the opening of the Cotoni-Coast Dairies National Monument to the public was planned for fall 2022, it was yet to open as of spring 2023, having been delayed due to opposition from activist groups. Objections to the project have included concerns about traffic and the habitats of

mountain lions The cougar (''Puma concolor'') (, '' KOO-gər''), also called puma, mountain lion, catamount and panther is a large small cat native to the Americas. It inhabits North, Central and South America, making it the most widely distributed wild ...

and

monarch butterflies The monarch butterfly or simply monarch (''Danaus plexippus'') is a milkweed butterfly (subfamily Danainae) in the family Nymphalidae. Other common names, depending on region, include milkweed, common tiger, wanderer, and black-veined brown. ...

References

External links

* *
POINT ARENA STORNETTA UNIT
includes trail map, at Mendocino Land Trust {{authority control National monuments in California Marine sanctuaries in California Bureau of Land Management national monuments Bureau of Land Management areas in California Parks in Southern California Protected areas of Southern California 2000 establishments in California Protected areas established in 2000 West Coast of the United States Units of the National Landscape Conservation System