June 2014

Living Landscape Observer - Nature, Culture, Community
In This Issue
Featured Landscape: Blueberry Barrens
World Heritage in Qatar
Landmark for Labor
#NHA30 - Labor Landscapes
In the News
About Us
Join Our Mailing List
October 23-24, 2014
 
November 9-14, 2014
18th ICOMOS  General Assembly and Scientific Symposium, "Heritage and Landscape as Human  Values"
Florence, Italy
 
November 11-14, 2014 
Savannah, Georgia
Wild Blueberry Barrens of Down East Maine
Undulating section of blueberry barrens on Passamaquoddy Tribal land in Maine.
On the northern coast of the Atlantic Seaboard are vast, wild blueberry barrens, endemic to Down East Maine as well as the Canadian Maritimes. The sandy soils and fog that frequently blanket the region on August mornings are believed to result in the high quality of the wild harvest.

While there is no formal, concerted effort to protect them, a disparate collection of public agencies, private organizations, and Native peoples are committed to the ongoing environmental stewardship of this unique landscape.
 

  

Living Landscape Observer
World Heritage in Qatar 
In mid-June, the World Heritage Committee met in Doha, Qatar. Several new sites and landscapes were inscribed on the world heritage list, including one in the United States - the country's first nomination since a loss of voting rights for nonpayment of dues to the committee's parent organization UNESCO. Learn more about the meeting here. 
A Landmark for Labor 

The Riverspark Heritage Area in New York was among the first urban parks in the nation to protect and interpret the history of labor in the United States. Among the stories and sites preserved is that of Kate Mullany, a young Irish immigrant who bravely led a week long strike in 1864, which gained collar workers in Troy a 25% wage increase. Learn more about the effort (and the controversy) to make her home a National Historic Landmark.  

#NHA30: Key Documents
Following up on the Kate Mullany post above, check out the 1984 management plan for RiverSpark (also called the Hudson-Mohawk Urban Cultural Park), an important document that influenced the development of heritage areas in other states, including Pennsylvania.

While you are at it, here is the 1989 Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor Cultural Heritage and Land Management Plan. Like RiverSpark, the National Heritage Corridor also interprets the lives of workers and the landscapes of labor.
In the News

NHA@30: National Heritage Areas at Thirty 
The Preservation Leadership Forum blog managed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation recently featured a piece on the anniversary of the National Heritage Area program.

Lights, Noise from Oil Drilling Threaten Landscape that Drew Teddy Roosevelt to North Dakota
Oil development is strictly forbidden within the Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota, but park officials worry that the flares, lights and noise from drilling just beyond the protected area are endangering the natural spaces that attracted the president as a young man.

The Sustainable Futures for Europe's Heritage in Cultural Landscapes (Project Hercules)
The European Commission is supporting a collaborative research project to protect and manage cultural landscapes, called the HERCULES project. Read more about the goals of the effort and the May 2014 stakeholders meeting organized by the European Landowners Organization in Brussels.

From Bike Rides to Festivals, All Paths Lead to the Lackawanna River Heritage Trail
Long distance trails are popular with the public, but challenging to assemble. Heritage areas bring a landscape scale perspective and a partnership approach to this work. Read about one success story in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Working Landscapes of Vermont 
Informative digital exhibit by students at the University of Vermont highlighting the people, tools, and practices that have shaped Vermont's fields, forests and recreational spaces. The exhibit also draws attention to the policies that have influenced how people work the land. Woven through the exhibit are the voices of Vermonters who reflect on what they value most about the state's working landscape.  
 
About Us

The Living Landscape Observer is a 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.