Historical landscape change in Yellowstone National Park: Demonstrating the value of intensive field observation and repeat photography
Meyer JI and Youngs Y. 2017. Historical landscape change in Yellowstone National Park: Demonstrating the value of intensive field observation and repeat photography. Geographical Review
Although transportation and outdoor recreation are well-recognized aspects of national parks, few studies have explored these aspects from the perspective of human geography as a means of analyzing historical landscape change. This paper offers an innovative synthesis of methods for studying cultural landscape change over time through a case study of the historical geography of transportation, tourism, and outdoor recreation along the Howard Eaton Trail (HET) in Yellowstone National Park. We conducted research through a field course that combined repeat photography, archival research, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and traditional field methods. Results indicate that a combination of repeat photography and other methods can create an effective means of evaluating cultural landscape change; even short field courses provide opportunities for students and faculty to conduct collaborative research that provides powerful, multidimensional, situated-learning experiences; and repeat photography creates datasets that may benefit future research and teaching.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Meyer, Judith; Youngs, Yolonda
- Units
- YELL
- Keywords
- archival research, cultural landscape, field methods, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), historical geography, history, Howard Eaton Trail (HET), photography
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Human Use | Cultural Landscapes | Cultural Landscapes