[Title 3 CFR 6944]
[Code of Federal Regulations (annual edition) - January 1, 1997 Edition]
[Title 3 - Presidential Documents]
[Proclamation 6944 - Proclamation 6944 of October 21, 1996]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]




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  Presidential Documents
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  1997-01-01
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  6944
  Proclamation 6944
  
    Presidential Documents
  


Proclamation 6944 of October 21, 1996
National Forest Products Week, 1996
A Proclamation
For much of our Nation's history, forests, like other natural resources, 
were considered inexhaustible. In this century, we began to recognize 
that forests are a precious birthright for all Americans--not only for 
us and for our

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children, but also for future generations. As part of this recognition, 
we observe National Forest Products Week.
Forests are an important source of fuel and building materials, and they 
provide many valuable jobs. They also offer us unmatched recreational 
environments, as well as a spiritual refuge from city life. They provide 
essential habitat for myriad species of plants and animals, including 
hundreds that are endangered or threatened. Increasingly, their trees, 
shrubs, herbs, fungi, and microorganisms are yielding new and wondrous 
medicinal products and foods. And thanks to better planning and resource 
management that replace harvested lands with new forests, thousands of 
Americans will continue to earn their livelihood from our Nation's 
forests, even as we protect them. Today, the same citizens who are 
reaping the forests' bounty are personally and professionally involved 
in efforts to preserve it for future generations.
Government, citizens, and the forestry industry now work hand-in-hand in 
a new cooperative stewardship that emphasizes healthy, diverse, and 
sustainable forests. Using the best available science and complying with 
all current environmental laws, we are examining past and present forest 
management practices to find the best mix of resource use, conservation, 
and recycling that will ensure continued productivity. America must 
promote environmental responsibility and observe the highest possible 
standards of conservation to lead the way for other nations.
One of our most important tools in this endeavor is investment in forest 
research. Forest research is developing new wood products that extend 
raw material supplies, new technologies to extract and process wood 
products with less waste and fewer harmful byproducts, and new ways of 
reducing demand for forest raw materials through recycling. It is also 
unlocking the potential of forests to provide new products that will 
benefit people. With proper care, these lands can remain healthy, 
diverse, and resilient, capable of sustaining the lives--human and 
animal--that are dependent on them.
In recognition of the central role forests play in the long-term welfare 
of our Nation, the Congress, by Public Law 86-753 (36 U.S.C. 163), has 
designated the week beginning on the third Sunday in October each year 
as ``National Forest Products Week'' and has authorized and requested 
the President to issue a proclamation in observance of this 
commemoration.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the United States of 
America, do hereby proclaim October 20 through October 26, 1996, as 
National Forest Products Week. I call upon the people of the United 
States to honor the vital role forests play in our national life and to 
observe this week with appropriate ceremonies and activities.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-first day of 
October, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-six, and of 
the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and 
twenty-first.
                                                    WILLIAM J. CLINTON  
                                                              Proc. 6945

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