[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 15 (Monday, April 19, 1999)]
[Pages 656-657]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7184--National Park Week, 1999

April 15, 1999

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    America's national parks are truly America's national treasures. 
Within their borders lie much of what is most precious to us: the 
breathtaking beauty of mountains, rivers, forests, and valleys; the 
extraordinary richness and variety of plants and animals; the places and 
artifacts of the special people and events that have shaped both our 
history and our destiny.
    This week we remember with gratitude one of those special people who 
played a pivotal role in the creation of our country's National Park 
System. Conservationist John Muir emigrated to the United States as a 
child 150 years ago this year. As a young man, he experienced for the 
first time the high country of California's Sierra Nevada and Yosemite, 
and for the rest of his life he championed America's wild places. 
``Everybody needs beauty as well as bread.'' he wrote, ``places to play 
in and pray in, where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to 
body and soul alike.'' He became the driving force behind the creation 
of such national parks as Yosemite, Sequoia, Mount Rainier, Petrified 
Forest, and Grand Canyon, and was an early advocate of an agency to 
manage them in a consistent manner. Although he died two years before 
the establishment of the National Park Service in 1916, many still 
regard John Muir as the ``Father of our National Park System.''
    Visitors to our Nation's wondrous national treasures can still 
experience the scenic grandeur that so inspired John Muir. In Washington 
State's Mount Rainier National Park, glaciers radiate from the summit 
and slopes of an ancient volcano, rising above dense green forests and 
brilliantly flowered meadows. This year, we celebrate the centennial 
anniversary of this cherished national park, preserved because of the 
vision and efforts of a coalition of mountaineers, geologists, and 
conservationists, including John Muir.
    Today, the National Park System has grown to 378 sites visited by 
more than 285 million people each year. Each of these sites is 
interwoven with America's richly diverse natural and cultural heritage 
to make up the pattern of our past, the fabric of our present, and the 
promise of our future. The two newest additions to our park system 
reflect this grand tradition. Little Rock Central High School National 
Historic Site in Arkansas pays tribute to the courage and quiet dignity 
of nine young African Americans who crossed the color line and changed 
American society forever. Alabama's Tuskegee Airmen National Historic 
Site celebrates the World War II exploits of the all-black Army Air 
Corps unit whose members prevailed over prejudice and discrimination in 
the U.S. Armed Forces to compile a distinguished combat record in 
defense of freedom.
    At these and so many other parks and historic sites across the 
country, the dedicated men and women of the National Park Service 
preserve America's heritage and teach a new generation the importance of 
informed and careful stewardship of our Nation's treasured places. 
During National Park Week, let us give thanks for the wisdom of all 
those who established our national parks and for the hard work and 
generous spirit of all those who continue to preserve them for our 
benefit. Because of their efforts, Americans will always find in our 
national parks the beauty, inspiration, knowledge, and renewal of spirit 
that have blessed our national journey for so long.
    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 19 
through April 25, 1999, as National Park Week.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this fifteenth day 
of April, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-nine, and 
of the Independence of the

[[Page 657]]

United States of America the two hundred and twenty-third.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., April 20, 
1999]

Note: This proclamation was released by the Office of the Press 
Secretary on April 16, and it will be published in the Federal Register 
on April 21.