Executive Order

Executive Order  No. 345: Establishing a green ribbon commission to oversee the centennial of the metropolitan park system and to plan for the future of the system

Date: 11/24/1992
Issuer: William F. Weld
Mass Register: No. 701

Table of Contents

WHEREAS, on June 3, 1893, landscape architect Charles Eliot and Sylvester Baxter, Charles Francis Adams, Philip A. Chase, William B. de las Casas, Abraham L. Richards, and William Chase, together with other enlightened citizens of the Commonwealth, created the Metropolitan Park System to carry out a mission of preserving and managing "the rock hills, the stream banks, and the bay and seashore" for the enjoyment of future generations; and

WHEREAS, the Metropolitan Park System currently consists of over 15,000 acres of beaches, rivers, parkway borders and forested reservations which provide the Commonwealth's citizens and tourists with recreational opportunities; and

WHEREAS, the Metropolitan Park System is internationally recognized as the first regional open space system in America and serves as a model for other states and countries in developing a unified system to promote the preservation and enjoyment of parks, rivers, beaches, and forested reservations; and

WHEREAS, the Metropolitan Park System protects the habitat of eastern Massachusetts native flora and fauna including the showy Ladyslipper orchid and the endangered Timber Rattlesnake;

WHEREAS, the Metropolitan Park System is rich in natural and cultural resources, including:

-the Blue Hills Reservation with its extraordinary archaeological sites;

-Revere Beach, the first beach in America redeveloped for public use;

-Monuments of the Commonwealth's great contributions to the founding of our country including Fort Independence on Castle Island and the Dorothy Quincy Homestead in Quincy as well as monuments of the civil War including Fort Warren on Georges Island;

-the Charles River Basin, the world renowned waterpark which hosts the celebrated Boston Pops concerts and the Head of the Charles Regatta, the world's largest single day rowing event;

-places of solitude and beauty including the Middlesex Fells and Belle Isle Reservations; and

WHEREAS, the Centennial of the Metropolitan Park System provides the Commonwealth with an occasion to celebrate the many natural and historic treasures the System has preserved for one hundred years and to plan for the public stewardship of the Metropolitan Park System for the next one hundred years;

NOW THEREFORE, I, William F. Weld, Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, by virtue of the power vested in me as Supreme Executive Magistrate, do hereby create a Green Ribbon Commission to Oversee the Centennial of the Metropolitan Park System and to Plan for the Future of the System, and order as follows:

  1. 1. The Commission shall consist of no more than 21 members appointed by the Governor, including representatives of park and community advocacy groups, the business community, academia, urban planning organizations and 2 members of the General Court, one to be appointed by the Speaker of the House and one to be appointed by the President of the Senate, and members of the Executive Branch, including the Secretary of Environmental Affairs and the Commissioner of the Metropolitan District Commission. The Governor shall appoint a chair and a vice-chair of the Commission, and the Commission may establish such subcommittees as it deems necessary to fulfill its responsibilities under this Executive Order;
  2. The Commission shall coordinate, develop and recommend to the Governor a plan for the future of the Park System, which shall have as its objective the best means of preserving the System's natural resources for the citizenry and tourists of the Commonwealth;
  3. The Commission shall oversee and plan public events to celebrate the Centennial of the Metropolitan Park System; and
  4. The Commission shall investigate the potential utilization of resources from both the public and private sectors to fund Centennial events and to create a financial management plan to strengthen the Park System.

Given at the Executive Chamber in Boston this 24th day of November in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred ninety-two.

William F. Weld, Governor

Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Michael Joseph Connolly

Secretary of the Commonwealth

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