See America in a New Light
January 31, 2014
To provide observations and information on the emerging fields of landscape scale conservation, heritage preservation, and sustainable community development.
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In the conservation world the two faces of nature and culture have become more of a dichotomy than a duality. And yet there is growing recognition that only by taking a more holistic approach can the field address the most urgent issues facing our planet – climate change, urbanization, and the transformations wrought by globalization.Selected reports concerning this nature-culture dialogue are now available in the most recent issue of the George Wright Journal titled “Nature – Culture Journeys: Explorations on Shared Terrain”, the journal shares best practices, insights and examples, as well as personal reflections of the intersections between these two fields.
At close to 900 pages, Senate Bill 1460 is far from light reading. Introduced by Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA), the legislation covers a huge number of topics ranging from infrastructure to federal lands management to energy efficiency and more. It is a rare bi-partisan effort that builds on the Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2015, which passed the Senate before falling short of votes in a conference with the House.
At every level, conservation practioners labor to understand and balance natural and cultural values at a landscape scale. Globally, this challenge plays out in the push and pull of the World Heritage inscription process. The recent (July 2017) inscription by the World Heritage Committee of the English Lake District highlights some of the challenges and opportunities of attempting to integrate cultural and natural values. There is no question this is a celebrated and iconic landscape, but there have been bumps along the way to gaining World Heritage recognition.
Eastern Maine is the last place on the East Coast where large tracts of forest still meet the sea. On a blue-sky October day at the height of foliage season, I went to explore one such tract – a critical 300-acre parcel that Frenchman Bay Conservancy was considering for purchase. On a landscape scale, conserving it would have been one more step in maintaining the connection between the fabled North Woods and the shores of the Atlantic.
In this piece, originally published in the May 2017 issue of the George Wright Forum (vol 34, no 1), guest observer Rolf Diamant explores the
In the conservation world the two faces of nature and culture have become more of a dichotomy than a duality. And yet there is growing recognition that only by taking a more holistic approach can the field address the most urgent issues facing our planet – climate change, urbanization, and the transformations wrought by globalization.Selected reports concerning this nature-culture dialogue are now available in the most recent issue of the George Wright Journal titled “Nature – Culture Journeys: Explorations on Shared Terrain”, the journal shares best practices, insights and examples, as well as personal reflections of the intersections between these two fields.
At close to 900 pages, Senate Bill 1460 is far from light reading. Introduced by Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA), the legislation covers a huge number of topics ranging from infrastructure to federal lands management to energy efficiency and more. It is a rare bi-partisan effort that builds on the Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2015, which passed the Senate before falling short of votes in a conference with the House.
At every level, conservation practioners labor to understand and balance natural and cultural values at a landscape scale. Globally, this challenge plays out in the push and pull of the World Heritage inscription process. The recent (July 2017) inscription by the World Heritage Committee of the English Lake District highlights some of the challenges and opportunities of attempting to integrate cultural and natural values. There is no question this is a celebrated and iconic landscape, but there have been bumps along the way to gaining World Heritage recognition.
Eastern Maine is the last place on the East Coast where large tracts of forest still meet the sea. On a blue-sky October day at the height of foliage season, I went to explore one such tract – a critical 300-acre parcel that Frenchman Bay Conservancy was considering for purchase. On a landscape scale, conserving it would have been one more step in maintaining the connection between the fabled North Woods and the shores of the Atlantic.
In this piece, originally published in the May 2017 issue of the George Wright Forum (vol 34, no 1), guest observer Rolf Diamant explores the