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Anniversary of the NPS: Building on a Legacy?

This post , NPS and Anniversaries, first ran in our September 2015 newsletter. We are re-printing it now in an effort to spark conversation not only about the NPS centennial, but also the legacy of the Obama Presidency and National Parks more generally. After almost 8 years, what do you see as the primary imprint of the Administration on the National Park System and other public lands? What will be the long term impacts of the administration’s efforts to protect resources on a landscape scale and tell the history of all Americans? What about the direction of the 2016 Centennial? And most importantly, what will be the emphasis of the next administration?

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San Antonio Missions: Learning from the World Heritage Experience

On October 17, 2015 dignitaries from around the country gathered to celebrate the inscription of the San Antonio Missions as the 23rd World Heritage Site in the Untied States (US) and the first in Texas. The San Antonio Missions are a group of five frontier mission complexes situated along an over seven mile stretch of the San Antonio RiverBehind the well-deserved World Heritage hoopla and the carefully crafted statement of the property’s Outstanding Universal Value, there is more than a decade of hard work. As interested in World Heritage recognition grows in the country and around the globe, what can we learn from the hard won experience of the San Antonio Missions?

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National Academy releases report on Large Landscape Conservation   

In November 2015 the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) released a report “An Evaluation of the Landscape Conservation Cooperatives”, which concluded that a landscape approach is needed to meet the nation’s conservation challenges and that the Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs) provide a framework for addressing that need. The NAS undertook the study pursuant to a Congressional directive to evaluate the LCC program.

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Nantucket Island: Preservation Sans Connection

The built environment reflects the cultural, environmental, social, and historical identity of a community. What happens when another value, that of economic value, becomes the key consideration? Maanvi Chawala, a 2015 US ICOMOS international intern, examines this challenging topic in the context of Nantucket Island. Read the full article here.

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The 2016 Federal Budget: How did Large Landscapes Fare?

After months of uncertainty, weeks of negotiations and two short-term extensions to keep the government open, Congress passed and the President signed the 2009 page omnibus spending Bill, titled the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016. How did federal initiatives that support landscape scale work and fund our natural and cultural conservation program fare?

Read More »

Anniversary of the NPS: Building on a Legacy?

This post , NPS and Anniversaries, first ran in our September 2015 newsletter. We are re-printing it now in an effort to spark conversation not only about the NPS centennial, but also the legacy of the Obama Presidency and National Parks more generally. After almost 8 years, what do you see as the primary imprint of the Administration on the National Park System and other public lands? What will be the long term impacts of the administration’s efforts to protect resources on a landscape scale and tell the history of all Americans? What about the direction of the 2016 Centennial? And most importantly, what will be the emphasis of the next administration?

Read More »

San Antonio Missions: Learning from the World Heritage Experience

On October 17, 2015 dignitaries from around the country gathered to celebrate the inscription of the San Antonio Missions as the 23rd World Heritage Site in the Untied States (US) and the first in Texas. The San Antonio Missions are a group of five frontier mission complexes situated along an over seven mile stretch of the San Antonio RiverBehind the well-deserved World Heritage hoopla and the carefully crafted statement of the property’s Outstanding Universal Value, there is more than a decade of hard work. As interested in World Heritage recognition grows in the country and around the globe, what can we learn from the hard won experience of the San Antonio Missions?

Read More »

National Academy releases report on Large Landscape Conservation   

In November 2015 the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) released a report “An Evaluation of the Landscape Conservation Cooperatives”, which concluded that a landscape approach is needed to meet the nation’s conservation challenges and that the Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs) provide a framework for addressing that need. The NAS undertook the study pursuant to a Congressional directive to evaluate the LCC program.

Read More »

Nantucket Island: Preservation Sans Connection

The built environment reflects the cultural, environmental, social, and historical identity of a community. What happens when another value, that of economic value, becomes the key consideration? Maanvi Chawala, a 2015 US ICOMOS international intern, examines this challenging topic in the context of Nantucket Island. Read the full article here.

Read More »

The 2016 Federal Budget: How did Large Landscapes Fare?

After months of uncertainty, weeks of negotiations and two short-term extensions to keep the government open, Congress passed and the President signed the 2009 page omnibus spending Bill, titled the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016. How did federal initiatives that support landscape scale work and fund our natural and cultural conservation program fare?

Read More »