National Forest Products Week, 1996

Proclamation 6944 of October 21, 1996

National Forest Products Week, 1996

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

For much of our Nation's history, forests, like other
natural resources, were considered inexhaustible. In
this century, we began to recognize that forests are a
precious birthright for all Americans--not only for us
and for our children, but also for future generations.
As part of this recognition, we observe National Forest
Products Week.

Forests are an important source of fuel and building
materials, and they provide many valuable jobs. They
also offer us unmatched recreational environments, as
well as a spiritual refuge from city life. They provide
essential habitat for myriad species of plants and
animals, including hundreds that are endangered or
threatened. Increasingly, their trees, shrubs, herbs,
fungi, and microorganisms are yielding new and wondrous
medicinal products and foods. And thanks to better
planning and resource management that replace harvested
lands with new forests, thousands of Americans will
continue to earn their livelihood from our Nation's
forests, even as we protect them. Today, the same
citizens who are reaping the forests' bounty are
personally and professionally involved in efforts to
preserve it for future generations.

Government, citizens, and the forestry industry now
work hand-in-hand in a new cooperative stewardship that
emphasizes healthy, diverse, and sustainable forests.
Using the best available science and complying with all
current environmental laws, we are examining past and
present forest management practices to find the best
mix of resource use, conservation, and recycling that
will ensure continued productivity. America must
promote environmental responsibility and observe the
highest possible standards of conservation to lead the
way for other nations.

One of our most important tools in this endeavor is
investment in forest research. Forest research is
developing new wood products that extend raw material
supplies, new technologies to extract and process wood
products with less waste and fewer harmful byproducts,
and new ways of reducing demand for forest raw
materials through recycling. It is also unlocking the
potential of forests to provide new products that will
benefit people. With proper care, these lands can
remain healthy, diverse, and resilient, capable of
sustaining the lives--human and animal--that are
dependent on them.

In recognition of the central role forests play in the
long-term welfare of our Nation, the Congress, by
Public Law 86-753 (36 U.S.C. 163), has designated the
week beginning on the third Sunday in October each year
as ``National Forest Products Week'' and has authorized
and requested the President to issue a proclamation in
observance of this commemoration.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of
the United States of America, do hereby proclaim
October 20 through October 26, 1996, as National Forest
Products Week. I call upon the people of the United
States to honor the vital role forests play in our
national life and to observe this week with appropriate
ceremonies and activities.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
twenty-first day of October, 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 twenty-first.