Bush visiting national park for Earth Day [View All]

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Trip highlights private initiative, activists want protectionsThe Associated Press

Updated: 7:26 a.m. ET April 22, 2005WASHINGTON -

President Bush is celebrating Earth Day with one of his favorite past-times — working the land.

The president, who often is at odds with environmentalists, was scheduled to celebrate their holiday on Friday in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. He was to speak at the Cades Cove area near Townsend, Tenn., after some quick restoration work on one of more than a dozen trails that originates there.

“I’m looking forward to getting my hands dirty,” Bush, who spends hours during his down time clearing brush on his Texas ranch, told young people awarded for their environmental work at the White House on Thursday. “Looking forward to getting outside of Washington.”

Bush is the first sitting president to visit the park since Franklin Roosevelt dedicated it in 1940, White House press secretary Scott McClellan said. McClellan said the trip marks the 22nd national park that Bush has visited since taking office, a record for sitting presidents.

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