Post by Leopold I von Habsburg on Sept 13, 2016 21:26:29 GMT
Leopold I was wandering the forests of the Kalkalpen region, busy muttering to himself policy options concerning a whole host of official state matters: the new bishop of Graz, whether or not to establish a new museum of art, foreign matters, and the health of his youngest grandson. The Kalkalpen had personally always been the Emperor's favourite Alpine-forest region. For years it had always acted as a secret escape, far away from the stresses of the capital, high on the side of the Kalkalpen mountain range. Rumour has it that the Emperor even commissioned the building of a small, simple one-room cabin somewhere in the Kalkalpen, and that he later in life wished to live the rest of his days here. He enjoyed the fact that in this remote corner of Austria there lived hardly anyone else, accept those small Alpine villages few and far between - when he came across said villages, he would like to put on the local hat wear and act as if he were a local (The Royal honour guard, who flew his standard, tended to give him away). He would talk to local farmers and peasants, even dinning with them when they offered. He declared it his "Heaven in Austria".
"Truly" he would say to his adjutants, and any others present, such as generals or diplomats, "truly, Austria is the most beautiful land in Europe; all is just so perfect, and right as God intended it to be. And I, I am the King of such beauty. Beauty given to us by the hand of God".
However, on this particular morning, as the clear streams of Alpine melt flowed past him, as the lush greenery moved in the gentle breeze, and as the sun illuminated the regions valleys and mountain tops around him, he, during this great moment of crisis aboard, decided he wanted to give his subjects something they could enjoy for hundreds of years thereafter at home
"As of this moment, the Kalkalpen belongs to all subjects of Austria. It can be to them what it is to me: a place of peace and heavenly tranquillity".
"The Kalkalpen is now a state-park. The towns will all be subject to building ordinances and there will exist strict rules on how this land is to be used. There may be no building or expansion of any farms in this region. As of this moment it must stay as it is. To change any feature will require permission".
"The Kalkalpen will be under the authority of the Forestmaster General, whom I shall appoint. He shall be responsible for what I have just decreed, and he shall be responsible for all the future state-parks that may be established by me or any other Emperors. Nature, God's true gift to us, is now the responsibility of an official. Just as our armies are a state particular, so to, is our beautiful state-nature as of this moment".
"And, before you ask gentlemen, Maxmilian Ulrich, third Count of Kaunitz, is to be my first Forestmaster General. Now lets wander this way for a do believe there is a farm at bottom of this shallow climb".
OOC: It's clearly a slow news day! I'm not going to pay for this chap to have a department in Vienna - I hereby requisition any building for the Forestmaster General down the road from the Hofburg. Done, please.
