Cultural Landscape Report for Saratoga Battlefield, Saratoga NHP, vol. 1

Oudemool, Lisa; Stevens, Christopher; Foulds, H.; Schnitzer, Eric; White, Linda; Martin, Chris

Cultural Landscape Report Volume I: Site History, Exisiting Conditions, and Analysis for Saratoga National Historical Park. The preparation of the following cultural landscape report (CLR) has been timed to participate in a planning effort to guide decision-making at Saratoga National Historical Park over the next twenty years. The planning process underway during 2000-2001, known within the National Park Service (NPS) as a general management planning (GMP), will effectively replace the park’s current planning document which has not been updated since 1969. This cultural landscape report for the park’s battlefield unit, available in draft prior to the selection of the GMP preferred alternative, presents a component of the information on which the conclusions of the GMP will be drawn. This information is important to ensure decisions made through the planning process do not negatively effect the character of the landscape. Besides informing the ongoing GMP process, a cultural landscape report typically serves important roles both as a synthesis and storehouse of information related to a landscape’s evolution over time, and as the agency’s principle landscape treatment document. It will serve as a primary tool for long-term landscape management. The report may be understood as Part I of the CLR, presenting a chronological site history of the property and its present condition in both narrative text and illustrations. The Analysis and Evaluation chapter, in addition to evaluating the significance and integrity using the terms and definitions of the National Register of Historic Places program, also offers some preliminary recommendations regarding the park’s choice of a historic preservation treatment approach. These recommendations are consistent with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. These brief recommendations are broadly conceptual, and will form the basis for subsequent landscape treatment. However, they should not be misunderstood to serve the full purpose of Part 2 of CLR, which deals with landscape treatment in much greater detail. It would also be appropriate to complete a Cultural Landscapes Inventory for the battlefield prior to discussing treatment options in a CLR part 2. This report has combined original research and the synthesis of previous research and management documents. Long-term park staff who possess considerable knowledge of the site have guided the project. Much of the report’s value lies in its narrative summary of the landscape knowledge that has required years of study by park staff.

Cultural Landscape Report for Saratoga Battlefield, Saratoga NHP, vol. 1

Series