Cultural Parks: What Happened?
March 28, 2018
To provide observations and information on the emerging fields of landscape scale conservation, heritage preservation, and sustainable community development.
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In Pennsylvania over 2,500 state historical markers, some dating back over one hundred years, dot the roadside. A recent system wide review of the marker’s text brought controversy, but also a thoughtful analysis of the content of those markers that attempt to interpret Indigenous and African American histories. Timely thoughts as public history agencies struggle to do the right thing.
This year, our most popular stories were a mix of old and new. Readers gained inspiration from posts that reflected on the past, while also reading stories calling for action in the present and future.
History and heritage are central to the work of large landscape conservation. Yet, a large part of this “work” often goes unexplored – the story of work itself. Understanding how people shaped a place through their labor and how that place, in turn, shaped culture and community, is key to telling the story of a landscape.
This is an exceptional time when ambitions for landscape scale conservation have come together with increased federal funding and supportive national policies. However, it is not time to take a victory lap. Now is the time to rise to the challenge of matching money, projects and partners to take advantage of these exceptional opportunities. The time has come to put into action at scale all the strategies developed by the collaborative conservation approach.
Passage of the Fiscal Year 2022 budget is stalled in Congress. What are some items we are watching as the process unfolds this fall and what thoughts do you have on the administration’s proposals?
In Pennsylvania over 2,500 state historical markers, some dating back over one hundred years, dot the roadside. A recent system wide review of the marker’s text brought controversy, but also a thoughtful analysis of the content of those markers that attempt to interpret Indigenous and African American histories. Timely thoughts as public history agencies struggle to do the right thing.
This year, our most popular stories were a mix of old and new. Readers gained inspiration from posts that reflected on the past, while also reading stories calling for action in the present and future.
History and heritage are central to the work of large landscape conservation. Yet, a large part of this “work” often goes unexplored – the story of work itself. Understanding how people shaped a place through their labor and how that place, in turn, shaped culture and community, is key to telling the story of a landscape.
This is an exceptional time when ambitions for landscape scale conservation have come together with increased federal funding and supportive national policies. However, it is not time to take a victory lap. Now is the time to rise to the challenge of matching money, projects and partners to take advantage of these exceptional opportunities. The time has come to put into action at scale all the strategies developed by the collaborative conservation approach.
Passage of the Fiscal Year 2022 budget is stalled in Congress. What are some items we are watching as the process unfolds this fall and what thoughts do you have on the administration’s proposals?