THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

NATIONAL PARK WEEK, 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 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