November 2014
Living Landscape Observer - Nature, Culture, Community
In This Issue
Featured Landscape: Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Nature and Culture
Lessons from Australia and Canada
N.Y. State Recreational Areas
The Recreation Imperative
In the News
About Us
Join Our Mailing List
in Washington, DC
April 29-May 2, 2015
Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Towpath Trail  in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Photograph Courtesy National Park Service.
Learn more about the history and contemporary emphases of Cuyahoga Valley National Park, a unique landscape in northeast Ohio. Encompassing rural, agricultural and urban districts, the park was originally established in 1974 as a National Recreation Area, one of many created by Congress during the decade. 

More recently, the park has focused attention on supporting farms within its boundaries, initiating several innovative programs. In addition, the NPS works closely with the Ohio and Erie Canalway National Heritage Area, which includes the park within its boundaries.


 

  
Living Landscape Observer
Nature and Culture - Still Worlds Apart?
November 2014 was a very busy month for World Heritage. At almost the same time, but halfway around the globe, the International Council on Museums and Sites (ICOMOS) and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) held significant, agenda-setting meetings. What themes emerged as especially salient? Have practitioners interested in cultual and natural heritge moved any closer together in recent years? Learn more.
Political Lessons from Australia & Canada
Will the recent midterm elections in the United States signal a change in the nation's heritage policies? To know the answer, we might look to the fate of parks and heritage conservation programs in Australia and Canada - where conservative governments have recently been in power. In the past, both countries had a track record of innovative heritage policy and programming. So what has been the impact of the fiscal belt tightening of Prime Minister Tony Abbott of Australia and Prime Minister Stephen Harper of Canada? Read more. 
Recreational Areas in N.Y. Deserve Spotlight
New York State has played a pivotal role in shaping the history of conservation in the United States. The Adirondack Park, Central Park, and the Hudson River Greenway, among other sites, have all influenced patterns of protected area management, as did the state's innovative urban cultural parks (now heritage areas) program. Learn more about this significant and ongoing legacy.  
The 1970's Recreation Imperative
In 1970, the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation completed a long awaited study of outdoor recreation resources in the United States, entitled "The Recreation Imperative." The ambitious document laid out a new direction for conservation, calling for an infusion of some $6 billion, with the majority of funds going to cities - a major change from previous allocation patterns. Ultimately, neither the Nixon nor the Ford Administrations ever released the report and it was only made public in 1974 through action by a Congressional Committee.
In the News

 

NPS releases new publication, Scaling Up: Collaborative Approaches to Large Landscape Conservation, a collection of case studies highlighting parks, programs and initiatives aimed at landscape-scale collaborative conservation. 

 

An issue of the journal Change Over Time features a number of articles that examine the role of landscape in the Venice Charter for the Conservation of Monuments and Sites.


 

The National Trust for Historic Preservation has debuted a new interactive website highlighting the potential impact of Dominion Virginia Power's proposed high-voltage transmission line on historic resources located within the James River Corridor. The line will include as many as 17 towers that are up to 295 feet tall.  

 

New York Times Op-Ed on the recent International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) meeting in Australia. 

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.