Statement on Signing the Bill Designating Forest Acreage of the Congaree Swamp as a National Monument.

EARLY IN its history the southeastern United States was covered with forests, but the remarkable industrial progress in that area along with many logging operations has now changed much of the landscape. The greatest remaining concentration of virgin hardwood forests in riverbottom land is now the Congaree Swamp, not far away from Columbia, South Carolina.

I am pleased to sign into law special legislation that will designate 15,000 acres of the hardwood forest in Congaree Swamp as a national monument. By officially coming within the National Park System, this forest and its unique ecological system will be preserved not just for this generation but for many generations to come.