TO THE PEOPLE OF KANSAS, GREETINGS:
WHEREAS, the Congress of the United
States established the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in Chase County,
Kansas on November 12, 1996, by Public Law 104-333; and
WHEREAS, approximately 400,000
square miles of tallgrass prairie once covered the North American continent,
less than four percent remains, and is primarily in the Flint Hills of
Kansas; and
WHEREAS, the Tallgrass Prairie
National Preserve in Chase County, Kansas, is a nationally significant
example of the once vast tallgrass ecosystem; and
WHEREAS, the National Park Trust,
Inc., a nonprofit charitable corporation, purchased the Z Bar/Spring Hill
Ranch in Chase County, Kansas, in 1994 to establish the Tallgrass Prairie
National Preserve for the benefit and enjoyment of future generations; and
WHEREAS, the General Management Plan
has been completed by the National Park Service with advice concerning
development, management and interpretation of the preserve by the Tallgrass
Prairie National Preserve Advisory Committee, chaired by Kansan Judge Lee
Fowler, the National Park Trust and its Vice Chairman, Kansan Paul
Duffendack, and numerous interested organizations and individuals; and
WHEREAS, the General Management Plan
promotes maintaining and enhancing tallgrass prairie and native species
diversity, and provides for visitor education on the natural and cultural
significance of the tallgrass prairie from the period of American Indian use
through more than a century of ranch life; and
WHEREAS, the National Park Trust,
Inc., will soon be conducting a campaign to raise funds to pay for and
protect the lands included in the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BILL GRAVES,
GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF KANSAS, do hereby proclaim November 12-18, 2000, as
TALLGRASS PRAIRIE NATIONAL PRESERVE WEEK in Kansas and urge all
citizens to participate in this program to share and protect this nationally
significant parkland.
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