[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 10 (Monday, March 11, 1996)]
[Pages 448-449]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 6870--National Park Week, 1996

March 8, 1996

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    For millions of visitors every year, America's 369 national parks 
serve as living examples of the diversity, history, and natural wonders 
that have always defined this country. We owe a debt of gratitude to the 
men and women of the National Park Service, whose outstanding work to 
preserve and protect these treasures ensures that they will be available 
to educate and enrich generations of Americans to come.
    The National Park Service also reaches beyond the boundaries of our 
parks to share knowledge and expertise with other nations, State and 
local governments, American Indian tribes and Alaska Natives, agencies, 
and thousands of organizations and individuals. National Park Service 
programs are helping community leaders to create green spaces in urban 
areas from Seattle to Philadelphia; to rehabilitate the historic canal 
in Augusta, Georgia; and to return grey wolves to Yellowstone, red 
wolves to the Great Smoky Mountains, big horn sheep to the Rocky 
Mountains, and the peregrine falcon to parks nationwide.
    Our national parks benefit from the work of many citizens dedicated 
to environmental stewardship and historic preservation. By working 
directly with the National Park Service or through the National Park 
Foundation, its congressionally chartered nonprofit corollary, park 
partners sponsor educational programs, raise funds, provide visitor 
services, and donate time and materials to support our

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great public resources. These partners include the Student Conservation 
Association, the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, the National Trust for 
Historic Preservation, and hundreds of other interested organizations. 
Drawn from corporations, associations, and communities everywhere, over 
100,000 Americans volunteer annually to keep our park system strong.
    This year, National Park Week is dedicated to recognizing and 
celebrating the commitment of the National Park Service and its partners 
to America's unique historical, cultural, and natural heritage. I urge 
all the people of the United States to learn more about our national 
parks, the programs available in their communities, and to seek out 
opportunities to become a national park partner.
    Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United 
States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the 
Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim April 22 
through April 28, 1996, as National Park Week.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this eighth day of 
March, 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 
twentieth.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., March 11, 
1996]

Note: This proclamation will be published in the Federal Register on 
March 12.