Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area

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Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
Location Norfolk, Plymouth, and Suffolk counties, Massachusetts, USA
Nearest city Boston, Massachusetts
Area 1,482 acres (6 km²)
Established November 12, 1996
Governing body Boston Harbor Islands Partnership which includes the National Park Service together with other federal, state, city, and nonprofit agencies.
Map of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area.
Map of the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area.
Ferries of the Harbor Islands Express link downtown Boston with some of the islands.
Ferries of the Harbor Islands Express link downtown Boston with some of the islands.

The Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area is a National Recreation Area situated among the islands of Boston Harbor, Boston, Massachusetts. The area is made up of a collection of islands, together with a former island and a peninsula, many of which are open for public recreation and some of which are very small and best suited for wildlife. The area is run by the Boston Harbor Islands Partnership.[1] It includes the Boston Harbor Islands State Park.

Attractions include hiking trails, beaches, the Civil War-era Fort Warren on Georges Island and Boston Light on Little Brewster Island, one of the oldest lighthouses in the nation. Georges Island and Spectacle Island are served seasonally by ferries to and from Boston and Quincy, connecting on weekends and summer weekdays with a shuttle boat to several other islands, Hull, and Hingham.[2]

Contents

[edit] Places

The Boston Harbor Islands National National Recreation Area is made up of a series of discrete islands and other places on and around Boston Harbor. These include:[1]

Two islands (Castle Island and Spinnaker Island) in Boston Harbor are not part of the National Recreation Area, and two former islands (Apple Island and Governors Island) were obliterated by Logan International Airport before the area was designated.

[edit] Management

The Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area is managed by the Boston Harbor Islands Partnership, a statutory body established as a federal operating committee by the park enabling legislation. The partnership consists of individual members who represent a range of federal, state, city, and nonprofit agencies, including:

Additionally the partnership includes members representing the Island Alliance, a fund-raising body dedicated to raising funds for the National Recreation Area, and the Boston Harbor Islands Advisory Council. There are 13 members in total, together with 13 alternates. Apart from the representative for the Coast Guard, who is appointed by the Secretary of Homeland Security, all the members of the partnership are appointed by the Secretary of the Interior after consultation with the appropriate agency or other body.[3][4][5]

In practice, day to day management of each individual island or other site is the responsibility of one of the partner agencies or other bodies. The partnership provides a consistency and coordination across the whole park.[6]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Boston Harbor Islands Visitor's Guide - The Islands. Boston Harbor Islands Partnership. Retrieved on August 9, 2006.
  2. ^ Boston Harbor Islands Ferry Schedule. National Park Service. Retrieved on July 29, 2006.
  3. ^ Islands Partnership - Governance. Boston Harbor Islands Partnership. Retrieved on October 6, 2006.
  4. ^ Islands Partnership - Membership. Boston Harbor Islands Partnership. Retrieved on October 6, 2006.
  5. ^ Public Law 104-33, 110 Stat. 4093 Sec. 1029. Boston Harbor Islands Recreation Area. Retrieved on October 6, 2006.
  6. ^ Boston Harbor Islands - General Management Plan. National Parks Service. Retrieved on October 19, 2006.

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] Further reading

[edit] External links

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