[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 171 (Wednesday, September 6, 2023)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 60879-60881]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-19346]




                        Presidential Documents 



Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 171 / Wednesday, September 6, 2023 / 
Presidential Documents

[[Page 60879]]


                Proclamation 10616 of August 31, 2023

                
National Wilderness Month, 2023

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                America's natural wonders are marvels of the world. 
                People travel across seas and continents to behold the 
                spirit of this great land embodied by our majestic 
                mountains, breathtaking deserts, emerald valleys, and 
                mighty rivers. During National Wilderness Month, we 
                celebrate the power and promise of our country's 
                extraordinary natural gifts and renew our commitment to 
                protecting them for generations to come.

                When we conserve our country's landscapes and 
                wilderness, we do more than preserve their beauty for 
                our own enjoyment. We safeguard the future of people 
                who depend on and sustain the land as a way of life--
                Indigenous peoples, farmers and ranchers, recreation 
                businesses, and rural communities. We enshrine 
                landmarks that identify the places where the history of 
                our Nation was made. We protect sacred spaces that have 
                been stewarded by Tribal Nations since time immemorial. 
                And we mitigate the impacts of climate change to help 
                make our country more resilient.

                A respect for nature's ability to support and enrich 
                our lives has led my Administration to develop the most 
                ambitious land and water conservation agenda in 
                American history. During my first week in office, I 
                issued an Executive Order establishing the country's 
                first-ever National Conservation Goal to conserve at 
                least 30 percent of our lands and waters by 2030. It is 
                the cornerstone of my ``America the Beautiful'' 
                campaign to support locally led and voluntary 
                conservation and restoration efforts across the 
                country. I also signed an Executive Order to protect 
                America's forests, harness the power of nature in the 
                fight against climate change, and initiate the first 
                National Nature Assessment to evaluate the state of our 
                lands, waters, and wildlife. And with funding through 
                the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and alongside the 
                Department of Agriculture, I have created a nearly $1 
                billion Community Wildfire Defense grant so that 
                communities can take steps to protect themselves from 
                the devastation of wildfires.

                With the help of critical partners in every sector, we 
                continue to make strong progress toward these 
                conservation and climate goals. Together, my Bipartisan 
                Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act 
                represent the largest investment in climate and 
                conservation ever--accelerating the clean energy 
                economy here at home, protecting communities from 
                climate impacts, and creating good-paying jobs that 
                boost our economy. The new National Monuments I have 
                designated will protect the soaring peaks of Camp Hale 
                in Colorado, the irreplaceable Avi Kwa Ame in Nevada, 
                the magnificent Castner Range in Texas, and the sacred 
                sites and lands that surround the Grand Canyon. We have 
                conserved the ancient and vast conifers of the Tongass 
                National Forest; safeguarded the incomparable Bristol 
                Bay watershed in Alaska; and restored protections for 
                Bears Ears, Grand Staircase-Escalante, and the 
                Northeast Canyons and Seamounts National Monuments.

                My Administration has protected the Boundary Waters in 
                Minnesota and Chaco Canyon in New Mexico, and we are 
                accelerating efforts to restore the Great Lakes, the 
                Chesapeake Bay, the Everglades, and the Columbia River 
                Basin. At my direction, the Secretary of Commerce has 
                begun exploring the designation of approximately 
                770,000 square miles in the Pacific Ocean,

[[Page 60880]]

                an area almost three times the size of Texas, as a new 
                national marine sanctuary to protect the integrity of 
                our oceans. The Department of the Interior has also 
                begun the process of preserving more than 13 million 
                acres of lands of significant natural and cultural 
                value in the Western Arctic. And I declared the entire 
                United States Arctic Ocean off-limits to new oil and 
                gas development. These landscapes and sacred spaces are 
                precious. If they are lost, they can never be replaced.

                Though these are great accomplishments, I realize we 
                still have much more work to do to protect our 
                wilderness. That is why we are continuing to take 
                ambitious steps to accelerate conservation. We are 
                coordinating across Federal agencies and encouraging 
                collaboration with non-Federal partners to better 
                conserve ecological connectivity and wildlife 
                corridors. We are also partnering with Tribal Nations, 
                working together as co-stewards of the lands that are 
                most precious to them.

                To harness the tremendous power of the ocean to help in 
                our fight against the climate crisis, we published the 
                first-ever United States Ocean Climate Action Plan, and 
                the Budget I released earlier this year includes new 
                funding to ensure our natural areas are accessible to 
                all Americans. I want to build on legislation I signed 
                last year that established Wilderness Act protections 
                for more than 182,000 acres of public lands in Nevada, 
                so I look forward to continuing to work with the 
                Congress to advance locally led and locally supported 
                proposals for protecting our most unique and beautiful 
                lands and waters.

                This National Wilderness Month, we renew our commitment 
                to protecting our wilderness areas and ensuring that 
                all their splendor is passed down from generation to 
                generation of Americans, helping to bridge our past and 
                our future.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of 
                the United States of America, by virtue of the 
                authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws 
                of the United States, do hereby proclaim September 2023 
                as National Wilderness Month. I encourage all Americans 
                to experience our Nation's outdoor heritage, to 
                recreate responsibly and leave no trace, to celebrate 
                the value of preserving an enduring wilderness, and to 
                strengthen our commitment to protecting these vital 
                lands and waters now and for future generations.

[[Page 60881]]

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                thirty-first day of August, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand twenty-three, and of the Independence of the 
                United States of America the two hundred and forty-
                eighth.
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                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2023-19346
Filed 9-5-23; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F3-P