AUGUST 2013
Living Landscape Observer - Nature, Culture, Community
In This Issue
Featured Landscape: Casa Grande Ruins National Monument
International Connections
Shutdown Blues
Tubman Superintendent
In the News
About Us
Join Our Mailing List

November 6
Scholarship and Partnerships: The State of History in the National Parks at Rutgers University-Camden in New Jersey

November 19 

Women in Preservation Breakfast in Washington, D.C. 

 

Casa Grande Ruins National Monument  
The Great House, or Casa Grande, is protected by a roof constructed in 1932. Photo by Henry D. Wallace.
The spirit of community empowers new legislation to expand Casa Grande Ruins National Monument. The site preserves and interprets an important portion of an ancient Sonoran Desert landscape once inhabited by a community of farmers, builders, and artisans known as the Hohokam. These people built the Casa Grande, a four-story adobe structure that dates to the 1300s. Learn more about the site here.
Living Landscape Observer
Italian-New York Protected Area Connection

Parks and protected areas in New York State and Italy enjoy many similarities, especially in regards to their shared emphasis on living landscapes. Learn more about how sites on two different continents have worked together to improve preservation and conservation practices.  

NPS and the Shutdown
The actions of the National Park Service came under heightened scrutiny during the recent government shutdown. Reflections on lessons learned as well as impacts of the parks' closure. Read more.
New Superintendent for Innovative Site
Established by Presidential Proclamation on March 25, 2013, Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Monument commemorates the life of the most famous conductor on the Underground Railroad, a fearless woman who enabled many enslaved people to emancipate themselves and escape to freedom in the North. The site now has its first permanent Superintendent, learn more here.

You can also re-visit an earlier piece we published, highlighting not only the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Monument, but also other recently designated NPS units.
In the News

Women in Preservation Breakfast  

Women in Preservation is hosting a breakfast on Tuesday, November 19, 2013. The event will feature Rachel Jacobson, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, U.S. Department of the Interior, as the keynote speaker. Learn more about registration here.

 

Parked! 

Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) recently issued a new report on the National Park Service entitled Parked! How Congress' Misplaced Priorities Are Trashing Our National Treasures. Read the report and check out commentary on the National Parks Traveler website. 

 

9.2 Million in Chesapeake Stewardship Grants Announced

Forty projects in the Chesapeake watershed's six states will receive more than $9.2 million in grants from the Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund, the Chesapeake Bay Program and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, which administers the grants. Learn more. 

 

Washington State Conservation Success Story

A diverse group of partners have come together in Washington State to promote the state's largest land acquisition in almost half a century. Learn more.  

 

About Us

The Living Landscape Observer is a new website, blog and monthly e-newsletter that offers commentary and information on the emerging field of large landscape conservation. This approach emphasizes the preservation of a "sense of place" and blends ingredients of land conservation, heritage preservation, and sustainable community development. Learn more about how you can get involved or sign up for the newsletter here.  

Our Mission: To provide observations and information on the emerging fields of landscape scale conservation, heritage preservation and sustainable community development.