[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 191 (Wednesday, October 2, 2024)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 80359-80360]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-22946]




                        Presidential Documents 



Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 191 / Wednesday, October 2, 2024 / 
Presidential Documents

[[Page 80359]]


                Proclamation 10820 of September 27, 2024

                
National Public Lands Day, 2024

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                America's natural wonders are our Nation's heart and 
                soul. Our public lands protect many of these treasures 
                and ensure that generations can enjoy their splendor--
                from our national parks and monuments to our forests 
                and wildlife refuges. On National Public Lands Day, we 
                honor these irreplaceable lands and waters and recommit 
                to working together to preserve them.

                Whether it is the soaring cliffs of Yosemite National 
                Park, the striking geysers of Yellowstone National 
                Park, or the lush hills of the Appalachians in the 
                Monongahela National Forest--our Nation's public lands 
                inspire and unite us through the ages. They hold pieces 
                of our country's history, etched into our lands and 
                waters. Some public lands are considered sacred by 
                Tribal Nations, which have stewarded them since time 
                immemorial. And these lands and waters also carry so 
                much promise: helping protect us against climate 
                change, providing the clean air we breathe and clean 
                water we drink, and sustaining the livelihoods of 
                ranchers, outfitters, guides, and rural and Indigenous 
                communities.

                Since the beginning of my Administration, I have taken 
                historic steps to conserve our natural treasures for 
                future generations. That began when I signed an 
                Executive Order that established the most ambitious 
                conservation goal in the history of our country--
                committing to conserve at least 30 percent of our 
                Nation's lands and waters by 2030. To that end, my 
                ``America the Beautiful'' initiative is supporting 
                voluntary, locally led conservation and restoration 
                efforts across the country. I also signed an Executive 
                Order to safeguard and steward our Nation's forests and 
                enlist nature to help address the climate crisis, 
                including through the development of the first National 
                Nature Assessment.

                Since I came into office, my Administration has 
                conserved more than 42 million acres of our Nation's 
                lands and waters. I established and expanded eight 
                national monuments--including the stunning Avi Kwa Ame 
                National Monument in Nevada, thought to be one of the 
                most sacred places on Earth by some Tribal Nations. I 
                restored protections for lands and waters across the 
                country that had been rolled back by the previous 
                administration--including the desert buttes of the 
                Bears Ears National Monument and the Grand Staircase-
                Escalante National Monument, the stunning Tongass 
                National Forest, and the underwater canyons of the 
                Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National 
                Monument.

                To protect our waters, I took executive action to 
                direct consideration of more than 700,000 square miles 
                of the Pacific Ocean southwest of Hawaii as a new 
                National Marine Sanctuary--which could make this one of 
                the largest protected marine areas on the planet. And I 
                protected the United States Arctic Ocean from new oil 
                and gas leasing. My Administration is also advancing 
                the proposed Chumash Heritage National Marine 
                Sanctuary, which stretches along 116 miles of 
                California coastline.

                My Administration has also made historic investments to 
                preserve our Nation's ecosystems and safeguard our 
                communities against the impact of climate change. Our 
                Inflation Reduction Act made the largest investment in 
                history to confront the climate crisis, and together 
                with our Bipartisan

[[Page 80360]]

                Infrastructure Law, these investments will help support 
                conservation and restoration, including $50 billion 
                dedicated to strengthening community and ecosystem 
                resilience to climate change. We have also worked to 
                promote equitable access to outdoor recreation 
                opportunities on public lands and waters through the 
                ``America the Beautiful'' initiative, launching the 
                Federal Interagency Council on Outdoor Recreation to 
                address common challenges and opportunities in 
                expanding outdoor recreation activities and access to 
                the great outdoors.

                I also launched the American Climate Corps to mobilize 
                a new, diverse generation of Americans--putting them to 
                work conserving and restoring our lands and waters, 
                bolstering community resilience, deploying clean 
                energy, implementing energy efficient technologies, and 
                advancing environmental justice. And, upon completing 
                this program, we are working to ensure they have a 
                pathway to getting high-quality, good-paying clean 
                energy and climate resilience jobs in the public and 
                private sectors.

                Our Nation's public lands have always been and will 
                always be central to our country's heritage and 
                essential to our identity. On National Public Lands 
                Day, I encourage every American to enjoy the wonder of 
                our public lands. All of our country's national parks, 
                forests, refuges, and grasslands will have a ``Fee-Free 
                Day'' on September 28--anyone can visit them free of 
                charge. There are several more fee-free days throughout 
                the year, the last of which will occur on Veterans Day, 
                November 11. Whether you go for the incredible vistas, 
                the lush forests, or the rolling grasslands, our public 
                lands will never fail to inspire awe and connect us to 
                something bigger than ourselves.

                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 laws of 
                the United States, do hereby proclaim September 28, 
                2024, as National Public Lands Day. I invite all 
                Americans to join me in a day of service for our public 
                lands. I also encourage volunteers from across the 
                Nation to celebrate and care for our lands and waters 
                by reforesting the land, maintaining trails, nurturing 
                ecosystems, removing invasive species, and doing other 
                conservation work to serve the lands and waters that 
                support and sustain us.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                twenty-seventh day of September, in the year of our 
                Lord two thousand twenty-four, and of the Independence 
                of the United States of America the two hundred and 
                forty-ninth.
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                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2024-22946
Filed 10-1-24; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3395-F4-P