    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 17 (Monday, April 28, 1997)]
    [Pages 556-557]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Proclamation 6993--National Wildlife Week, 1997

    April 19, 1997

    By the President of the United States

    of America

    A Proclamation

        Our Nation is blessed with a wealth of wildlife, wild places, and
    natural resources that enrich the lives of all Americans. Conserving our
    wildlife--whether antelope or grizzly bear, salmon or serpent, or plumed
    bird--is of urgent importance. Our vast system of wildlife refuges has
    played a vital role in this endeavor. Helping to ensure greater harmony
    between people and nature, more than 92 million acres of land and waters
    are dedicated to wildlife conservation, encompassing 500 refuges, with
    at least one in every State and within a short drive of most major
    cities. These wonderful resources provide opportunities for people of
    all ages and from all walks of life, and from cities, suburbs, and the
    rural heartland, to learn about and participate in the effort to
    preserve the places and wildlife that contribute so much to our Nation's
    heritage and natural wealth.
        The appreciation and protection of wildlife, particularly of
    endangered or threatened species, is both the right and responsibility
    of all Americans. Indeed, countless individuals and private volunteer
    organizations across the United States have already made a significant
    contribution to wildlife protection. Only by engaging communities in
    conservation, by taking note of and rewarding community service efforts,
    and by maintaining diverse approaches to wildlife protection, can we
    preserve our wildlife today and for future generations.
        We set aside this week to celebrate the role that citizens and
    private volunteer organizations play in engaging in service activities,
    and in advancing the knowledge, appreciation, and protection of wildlife
    and the environment. Let us also work to spread this message to broader
    audiences and encourage all individuals and groups to contribute to this
    national goal. I urge all Americans, private organizations, businesses,
    community leaders, elected officials and governmental agencies to do all
    they can to preserve and

    [[Page 557]]

    value the role of wildlife resources in our lives. This tradition of
    nature education will continue to teach our children how to be lifelong
    stewards of the environment and help to build the knowledge and
    understanding essential to the protection of nature's abundant gifts.
        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 20
    through April 26, 1997, as National Wildlife Week. I ask all Americans
    to find ways to promote the conservation and protection of our wildlife
    and wild places.
        In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this nineteenth day
    of April, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-seven, and
    of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and
    twenty-first.
                                                William J. Clinton

    [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 10:59 a.m., April 22,
    1997]

    Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on April
    23.