Our Mission

To provide observations and information on the emerging fields of landscape scale conservation, heritage preservation, and sustainable community development.

About Us
the observer

Newsletter

Stay up-to-date with the latest nature, culture and community news.

Email:

We won’t spam you or share your information. Newsletters are sent approximately 10 times a year. Unsubscribe at any time.

Popular Posts
Get Involved

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 »

National Heritage Areas Deliver Place-Based Education

The thirtieth anniversary of the first National Heritage Area (NHA) and the upcoming centennial of the National Park Service (NPS), inspired research into the relatively untapped topic of the mutual benefits to both NHAs and the NPS. Recent research has explored how NHAs deliver place-based educational programming in partnership with nearby national park units.

Read More »
Credit: Paulette Wallace

Can Parks Organizations Continue to Ignore Social Values in Landscape Stewardship?

“Social value” is not a term that national park organizations in the United States, Canada and New Zealand have tended to use with much frequency, reserving it almost exclusively for discussions of the distant past, rather than for more recent and contemporary place attachments and community networks. How can social values or the “values of people” be better incorporated into national park management policies, such that agencies move beyond lip service and actually include various publics in meaninful decision-making processes.

Read More »

Letter from Woodstock: Urban Parks Agenda for Everyone

Since at least the 1930s, the National Park Service has enjoyed a significant presence in urban areas. Yet, as the agency’s 2016 centennial approaches, the history of park service programs in cities can, at best, be viewed as a mixed legacy, with many stops and starts along the way. What can we learn from the past and what might the future hold for the newly announced NPS Urban Agenda?

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 »

National Heritage Areas Deliver Place-Based Education

The thirtieth anniversary of the first National Heritage Area (NHA) and the upcoming centennial of the National Park Service (NPS), inspired research into the relatively untapped topic of the mutual benefits to both NHAs and the NPS. Recent research has explored how NHAs deliver place-based educational programming in partnership with nearby national park units.

Read More »
Credit: Paulette Wallace

Can Parks Organizations Continue to Ignore Social Values in Landscape Stewardship?

“Social value” is not a term that national park organizations in the United States, Canada and New Zealand have tended to use with much frequency, reserving it almost exclusively for discussions of the distant past, rather than for more recent and contemporary place attachments and community networks. How can social values or the “values of people” be better incorporated into national park management policies, such that agencies move beyond lip service and actually include various publics in meaninful decision-making processes.

Read More »

Letter from Woodstock: Urban Parks Agenda for Everyone

Since at least the 1930s, the National Park Service has enjoyed a significant presence in urban areas. Yet, as the agency’s 2016 centennial approaches, the history of park service programs in cities can, at best, be viewed as a mixed legacy, with many stops and starts along the way. What can we learn from the past and what might the future hold for the newly announced NPS Urban Agenda?

Read More »