Appalachian Trail Histories

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Description:

On February 8, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson delivered a special message to Congress in which he called upon his colleagues in the legislative branch to address the rapidly worsening state of the environment in the United States, and to take up an ambitious conservation agenda. In his speech, President Johnson called for the creation of a national system of trails, modeled on the Appalachian Trail:

We need to copy the great Appalachian Trail in all parts of America.

This speech spurred Secretary of the Interior Morris Udall to action, resulting first in the report Trails for America (1965) and then the National Trails System Act (1968). This latter legislation formalized the federalization of the Appalachian Trail.

Collection:

Legislation


Date:

02/08/1965

Creator:

Lyndon B. Johnson

Subject

Legislation

Contributor

Mills Kelly

Format

Text

Source:

LBJ Presidential Library

Rights

None

Citation

Lyndon B. Johnson, “Special Message to the Congress on Conservation and Restoration of Natural Beauty, February 8, 1965,” Appalachian Trail Histories, accessed November 21, 2024, https://appalachiantrailhistory.org/items/show/421.

Geolocation

LBJ Natural Beauty Speech.pdf