Proclamation 2273—National Wild Life Week, 1938

By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation

Whereas one of the most important phases of the conservation of our natural resources is the protection and preservation of our wild life; and

Whereas this is a work in which virtually our entire citizenship can participate wholeheartedly and enthusiastically, whether resident in the large metropolitan centers, with limited access to the great out-doors, or permitted to enjoy at first hand the wonders of nature: and

Whereas the carrying into effect of any program for the conservation of our hereditary wild life—in the past seriously diminished and depleted by destructive exploitation and lack of proper understanding and sympathy—must enlist the support of all of our citizens if the mistakes of the past are to be avoided in the future in dealing with this important resource of incalculable social, economic, esthetic, and recreational value:

Now, Therefore, I, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim and designate the week beginning March 20, 1938, as National Wild Life Week and do earnestly appeal to all of our citizens first to recognize the importance of the problem of conservation of these assets in wild life, and then to work with one accord for their proper protection and preservation. To this end I call upon all citizens in every community to give thought during this period to the needs of the denizens of field, forest, and water and intelligent consideration of the best means for translating good intentions into practical action in behalf of these invaluable but inarticulate friends. Only through the full cooperation of all can wild life be restored for the present generation and perpetuated for posterity.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington this 14th day of February, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and thirty-eight, and of the Independence of file United States of America the one hundred and sixty-second.

FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT

By the President:
CORDELL HULL
Secretary of State.