The Forest: Cultural Landscape Report, Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park

Wilcke, Sarah; Morrissey, Leslie; Morrissey, Jennifer; Morrissey, James

The body of The Forest Cultural Landscape report is divided into five chapters. The Site History of the Report provides a detailed description of the origin and evolution of the forest and forest management from the Marsh era of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, through the Billings and Rockefeller eras, to present National Park Service ownership. Through an examination of both primary and secondary sources, attention is paid to such forestry details as dates of tree plantations, species planted, and treatments administered. Other aspects of land management discussed include the construction of stone walls, agricultural uses within the forest, and the development of various water resources. The history of this forested landscape has been comprehensively studied with attention to the nuances of its evolution over two centuries of land stewardship. Historical information from contemporary and historical maps and photographs was analyzed using GIS technology, and is incorporated into the site history through a series of historical condition maps. Each chapter in the site history is divided into three headings. The Land Management category includes topics that relate directly to the treatment of the land. The Circulation heading contains discussion of the circulation patterns that existed and were developed within the forest. And finally, recreational and experimental uses of the land are addressed under the Recreation and Inquiry heading. Within these categories, several subheadings such as agriculture, forest management, and water management are used to organize discussion of the different activities that occurred throughout the history of the forest. As the amount of information available for each time period varies greatly, subheadings in one chapter may contain more information than the same subheading in another chapter. Additional subheadings were added to the Billings period discussion because of the great deal of primary source information available for that period. Existing conditions of the forest were examined using GIS technology, by evaluating data layers from a number of sources. Chapter 5 presents the current condition of the forested lands located within the park based on information obtained through GIS database developed, photography and site visits. The purpose of this section is to describe modern conditions so that extant features of the landscape may be examined with regard to their historic significance. The discussion also aids in determining management priorities for the landscape. Discussion of existing conditions is divided into types of land use and landscape features.

The Forest: Cultural Landscape Report, Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park

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