An elected board of selectmen manages day-to-day town affairs, and an elected board of finance tends to municipal financial matters. A planning commission, consisting of members appointed by the board of selectmen, engages in long-range town planning—particularly with respect to land-use—and decennially prepares a Plan of Conservation and Development. The planning commission also establishes regulations concerning the subdivision of land, and reviews and acts upon subdivision proposals. An elected zoning commission promulgates and applies zoning regulations, and an inland wetlands commission, appointed by the board of selectmen, regulates activities in or near wetlands and watercourses. A historic district commission reviews development proposals within Washington's historic districts, and issues certificates of appropriateness for proposals it approves. A conservation commission, also appointed by the board of selectmen, establishes advisory conservation policies, advocates for the conservation of Washington's natural and cultural resources, and acquires and manages municipal open space, consisting of land owned by the town and conservation easements held on private property.