[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 42 (Monday, October 23, 2000)]
[Pages 2480-2481]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 7366--National Forest Products Week, 2000

October 14, 2000

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    In the early years of the 20th century, President Theodore Roosevelt 
challenged his fellow citizens to begin the vital task of conserving the 
precious natural resources with which America has been so abundantly 
blessed. As part of his notable conservation achievements, he 
consolidated 65 million acres of Federal forest reserves into the 
National Forest System and created the United States Forest Service to 
provide wise stewardship of these lands for future generations.
    Today, the National Forest System comprises more than 190 million 
acres of forests and grasslands, a priceless remnant of the great 
wilderness that once stretched across our country. Whether sustaining 
ecosystems, supplying water, providing lumber, or offering recreation, 
these precious areas benefit millions of Americans.
    We must continue to sustain the health and beauty of the forestlands 
President Roosevelt first set aside for us so many decades ago. I am 
proud that my Administration has made significant progress in improving 
the management of Federal forestlands. With science-based planning and 
research, we have sought to achieve a balance between strengthening 
protections for wildlife and water quality and providing a steady, 
sustainable supply of the building materials, paper products, and other 
commodities we need to meet the challenges of our growing economy.
    America's forests have always offered us unique and irreplaceable 
benefits. They are a treasured inheritance, and we must ensure in this 
new century that our policies and actions sustain this precious legacy 
for the prosperity and well-being of generations to come.

[[Page 2481]]

    To recognize the importance of our forests in ensuring the long-term 
welfare of our Nation, the Congress, by Public Law 86-753 (36 U.S.C. 
123), has designated the week beginning on the third Sunday in October 
of each year as ``National Forest Products Week'' and has authorized and 
requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of this 
week.
    Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United 
States of America, do hereby proclaim October 15 through October 21, 
2000, as National Forest Products Week. I call upon all Americans to 
observe this week with appropriate ceremonies and activities.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this fourteenth day 
of October, in the year of our Lord two thousand, and of the 
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-
fifth.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., October 18, 
2000]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on October 
19.