Proclamation 3980—National Arbor Day

Our land has been blessed with a plentiful number and variety of trees. They have beautified our landscape, added a touch of nature to our towns and cities, provided the locale where people could find wholesome recreation, and served as one of the major building blocks in the development of this Nation.

At a time when we as a people are becoming more concerned with the quality of our environment, it is fitting that we give more attention to the planting of trees in rural and urban communities. In crowded city streets or suburban shopping centers they stand as things of beauty and as reminders of man's inseparable link with nature.

The Congress, in order to emphasize the importance of this natural resource to our well being, has by House Joint Resolution 251 requested the President to issue a proclamation designating the last Friday of April 1970 as National Arbor Day, and calling upon the people of the United States to observe such day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.

Now, Therefore, I, Richard Nixon, President of the United States of America, do hereby designate Friday, April 24, 1970, as National Arbor Day, and I call upon the people of the United States to observe that day with ceremonies and activities designed to direct public attention and involvement in the planting of trees for the enjoyment of all.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-fourth day of April, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and seventy, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and ninety-fourth.

RICHARD NIXON