PARSIPPANY — In response to Governor Phil Murphy’s decision Wednesday to re-open state and county parks and forests, Assemblyman Jay Webber issued this statement:
“Although state and county parks and forests never should have been closed, it is good that the governor has corrected course to re-open them. The open space of our parks and forests is essential to the physical, mental, and emotional health and well-being of all our residents. Thanks go out to the more than 51,000 citizens who advocated for the re-opening of our parks through signing or liking our online petition, and all of the other officials, Republican and Democrat, who rallied to the cause of open space and health of our residents.”
On the very day, April 7, that Murphy imposed executive order 118 closing all state parks and forests and all parks of all 21 counties, Webber became the first official in the state to call on the governor to rescind that order. Webber issued an open letter to Murphy and began an online petition asking the governor to re-open the parks. The petition has gathered over 38,000 Likes and 13,000 signatures to date.
