Preservation Brief 36: Protecting Cultural Landscapes: Planning, Treatment, and Mangement of Historic Landscapes
Birnbaum C. 1994. Preservation Brief 36: Protecting Cultural Landscapes: Planning, Treatment, and Mangement of Historic Landscapes. Cultural Landscape Guidance Documents. National Park Service. Washington, D.C.
This Preservation Brief provides guidance on the planning, treatment, and management that together contribute to the protection of cultural landscapes. Like historic buildings and districts, these places reveal aspects of our country’s origins and development through their form, features, and how they have been used. Cultural landscapes also reveal much about our relationship with the natural world. Cultural landscapes can range from thousands of acres of rural tracts of land to a small homestead with a front yard of less than an acre. Understanding cultural landscapes is an important part of effective management and preservation, and this guide begins by defining terminology and cultural landscape types. Preservation Brief 36 identifies the primary issues that need to be addressed when considering how a particular cultural landscape should be treated. It is intended to give preservation professionals, cultural resource managers, and historic property owners a process for preserving historic designed landscapes and vernacular landscapes. This process begins with the planning and research of the landscape, which documents its history, significance, and conditions. Based on an analysis and evaluation, a treatment plan can be developed. The Brief provides a framework and guidance for undertaking projects to ensure a successful balance between historic preservation and change. Planning, treatment, and maintenance of cultural landscapes requires a multi-disciplinary approach and participation from many parties. Wise stewardship protects the character or spirit of a place by recognizing history as a change over time. The potential benefits from preserving cultural landscapes are scenic, economic, ecological, social, recreational, and educational; these opportunities can help us understand ourselves as individuals, communities, and as a nation.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Birnbaum, Charles
- Date of Issue
- 1994-09
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- CRPS
- Keywords
- Change, CRSS, Cultural Landscape, Cultural Landscape Inventory, Cultural Landscape Report, documentation, Ethnographic Landscape, existing conditions, Historic Designed Landscape, Historic Landscape, Historic Preservation, historic site, Historic Vernacular Landscape, historical research, integrity, Preservation Maintenance Guide, Preservation Planning, Reconstruction, Rehabilitation, Restoration, treatment plan