[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 29, Number 18 (Monday, May 10, 1993)]
[Pages 735-736]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

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Proclamation 6554--National Arbor Day, 1993

 April 30, 1993

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    It is proper that we celebrate America's forests, which provide us 
with a link to our past, a thriving ecosystem, and indispensable 
resources that are vital to our economy.
    Trees are one of the symbols of our culture. Our forebears explored 
America's forests; lived, hunted, and fought in them; and celebrated 
them in art, music, folktales, and literature. Our traditions speak of 
the Tree of Life, just as Thomas Paine spoke of the Tree of Liberty. 
Paul Bunyan and Babe made their living in the forest, and Huck Finn used 
trees to make his wooden raft to ride down the Mississippi River on his 
great American adventure. Today, a walk through the woods or a city park 
reminds us of our country's special ties to the land we inherited.
    Our trees are valuable protectors of our ecosystem. They provide a 
thriving habitat for animal and plant life; their roots curb soil 
erosion; their leaves freshen our air by providing oxygen; and their 
branches shelter us from the sun and the wind.
    On Arbor Day, we also recognize those whose lives and livelihoods 
are intertwined with our forests. Generations of Americans have depended 
on forests for the lumber to build houses and the fuel to heat their 
homes. Many Americans continue to harvest lumber and produce wood 
products, foresters help us manage our forests wisely, and civic 
associations help ensure the preservation of our woodlands.
    Despite the critical importance of our forests, we have not always 
been diligent stewards of our inheritance. Not long after the Civil War, 
our ancestors realized that the need for wood products was placing too 
great a demand on our forests. And in 1872, concerned residents of the 
State of Nebraska came together on the first Arbor Day to look to the 
future and preserve America's forests for our generation and the ones 
yet to come. As we approach the 21st century, we must rededicate 
ourselves to a forest policy that sustains a strong forest economy and a 
healthy ecosystem.
    Arbor Day is commemorated with an activity in which every American 
can take part: the planting of a tree--in a backyard, in a park, or on a 
mountainside. Each new sapling planted today connects us to our parks 
and wilderness areas here at home, as well as to the tropical forests 
and wetlands around the world. We must ensure that our children and 
their descendants have just as much to celebrate on Arbor Day 100 years 
from now.
    The Congress, by House Joint Resolution 127, has designated the last 
Friday in April as ``National Arbor Day.''
    Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United 
States of America, do hereby proclaim April 30, 1993, as National Arbor 
Day. I call upon the people of the United States to observe this day 
with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this thirtieth day 
of April, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-three, and 
of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and 
seventeenth.
                                            William J. Clinton

[[Page 736]]

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 10:19 a.m., May 3, 1993]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on May 4.