Toward a sustainable landscape with high visual preference and high ecological integrity : the loop road in Acadia National Park, U.S.A.

Steinitz, Carl

'This paper reports on research which develops an experimental mode of landscape planning, using simulation modelling methods applied to Acadia National Park and Mt. Desert Island, Maine, U.S.A. The research was directed at establishing levels of sensitivity to landscape management and design changes for both the ecological landscape and the visual landscape. Both are of great importance to the park; evidence points to the perceived beauty of the landscape as the overwhelming reason for the user-popularity of Acadia. A detailed geographic information system (GIS) was prepared for the island. User preferences for the visual landscapes of Mt. Desert Island were assessed via interviews with several hundred residents and visitors. Five conceptually different existing visual models were compared for their ability to have generated the survey responses. Based on results, a new and more predictive model was then developed. Analyses were also conducted to identify the landscape elements of the island which are most important for maintaining a diversity of wildlife habitats and thus their ecological integrity. The visual and ecological models were applied to the GIS, mapped and compared. Twelve landscape planning policies and actions were simulated along the Loop Road, the most frequently used route in the park. Using spreadsheet methods, these were evaluated by the models for their visual and ecological impacts. Taken in combination, alternative landscape management plans can thus be designed, compared and directed toward a more sustainable landscape.' /STUDY LOCATIONS:/ /MOUNT DESERT ISLAND

Toward a sustainable landscape with high visual preference and high ecological integrity : the loop road in Acadia National Park, U.S.A.

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