    [Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 17 (Monday, April 28, 1997)]
    [Pages 557-558]
    [Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

    <R04>
    Proclamation 6994--National Park Week, 1997

    April 19, 1997

    By the President of the United States

    of America

    A Proclamation

        One hundred and twenty-five years ago, America made a momentous
    decision: to set aside and protect in perpetuity an extraordinary part
    of our young Nation. With the signing of the Yellowstone National Park
    Act on March 1, 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant created the world's
    first national park, and the succeeding years have proved beyond all
    doubt the wisdom and foresight of that decision. Known throughout the
    world for its beauty and the natural wonders that lie within its
    boundaries, Yellowstone has inspired the creation of a multitude of
    other national parks, both here and in other countries, preserving for
    future generations the rich natural and cultural legacy of our world.
        Today, our 374 national parks protect America's unparalleled wonders
    and the history of those who have helped shape our land. Our national
    parks preserve both where we live and who we are. In America's national
    parks, we see Americans through their experiences--war and peace,
    tragedy and triumph, struggle and liberty. Our national park sites
    invite us not only to marvel at the grand geography of Yellowstone or
    the Great Smokies, but also to explore the innovative genius of Thomas
    Edison at the Edison National Historic Site in New Jersey, to visit the
    remains of an ancient civilization at Mesa Verde in Colorado, or to walk
    the hallways of the Kansas school where the struggle for civil rights
    ultimately led to the landmark Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court
    decision.
        In addition to the parks themselves, the national park spirit
    thrives in thousands of communities across the country where the
    National Park Service provides support and technical advice to create
    close-to-home recreational opportunities and to honor local history
    through programs such as Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance,
    the National Register of Historic Places, and National Historic
    Landmarks. The National Park Service, in partnership with organizations
    and individuals dedicated to conservation and historic preservation, is
    ensuring that our national parks touch the lives of as many people as
    possible, while sparking an interest among our Nation's children in
    archaeology, ethnography, history, historic landscapes, and historic
    structures.
        Indeed, the national parks remain a magnet for the American public.
    Every year millions of visitors flock to them--270 million in 1996.
    Surveying our history and heritage, our national parks let us reach out
    and touch the past.
        As we observe this week, let us remember with gratitude all those
    who are and have been entrusted with the stewardship of these treasured
    places. As the parks and the mandate of the National Park Service have
    evolved, the demands on those who manage these resources have become
    more complex and the skills required of the National Park

    [[Page 558]]

    Service work force have become more sophisticated. These men and women
    are the guardians of our cultural and natural treasures, and, on behalf
    of all Americans, I express my deepest thanks.
        This year, National Park Week celebrates the strength of our unique
    and diverse system of national parks, and I urge all Americans to share
    in the wonderful experiences these places offer all of us.
        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 21
    through April 27, 1997, as National Park Week.
        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, 11 a.m., April 22, 1997]

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