[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 41 (Monday, October 14, 1996)]
[Page 2009]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 6932--National Wildlife Refuge Week, 1996

October 7, 1996

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    As we prepare to meet the challenges of the 21st century, protecting 
the environment remains our sacred responsibility. Our National Wildlife 
Refuge System is a network of special places set aside to conserve the 
natural habitat of our fish and wildlife. My Administration is dedicated 
to strengthening this invaluable network of refuges that truly enhance 
the lives of all Americans.
    President Theodore Roosevelt established the first National Wildlife 
Refuge in 1903, and his vision remains the guiding force for the Refuge 
System today: ``. . . keeping for our children's children, as a 
priceless heritage, all the delicate beauty of the lesser and all the 
burly majesty of the mightier forms of wild life . . . . Wild beasts and 
birds are by right not the property merely of the people alive today, 
but the property of the unborn generations whose belongings we have no 
right to squander.''
    What began 93 years ago with a small island in Florida has grown 
into a system of more than 500 refuges spanning all 50 States and 
several trust territories. It is home to resident and migratory wildlife 
and includes lands of breathtaking beauty and diversity, from the 
tropical mangroves of Florida's Key Deer National Wildlife Refuge to the 
majestic peaks of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska. This 
mosaic of magnificent places provides Americans a wide range of 
opportunities--both educational and recreational--to learn about our 
environment and our country's heritage, to observe and photograph, and 
to hunt and fish. Our national wildlife refuges are among our most 
treasured areas, and we must reaffirm our commitment to preserving these 
precious resources for our children, for our communities, and for future 
generations. Working together, we can ensure the health and vitality of 
our wildlife and our Nation.
    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 October 6 
through October 12, 1996, as National Wildlife Refuge Week. I invite all 
Americans to learn about, appreciate, and celebrate this magnificent 
collection of lands that we as a people have set aside for wildlife and 
for the enjoyment of future generations. I also ask all to join me in a 
renewed commitment to responsible stewardship of our country's 
irreplaceable natural resources.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this seventh 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.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 8:45 a.m., October 9, 
1996]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on October 
10.