Significant Landscape Conservation Events

Significant Landscape Conservation Events in New England and the Mid-Atlantic States, 1800’s to 1990
Draft: Glenn Eugster, November 22, 2005; revised March 25, 2008

* Andrew Downing and the introduction of landscape gardening in New York State, 1800’s

* Hudson River School of Painting, NY 1820

* Adirondack Forest Preserve and Niagara Reservation, NY, 1885

* Adirondack Park, NY, 1892

* American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society, NY, 1895

* Palisades Interstate Park Commission, NY, 1899-1900

* An Appalachian Trail: A Project in Regional Planning, Benton MacKaye, AIA Journal 1921

* In the 1930's tourism and travel efforts, such as the "Here's New England: A Guide to Vacationland" were used to make different landscapes in the Northeast destinations for travel and tourism. This guide included a joint resolution, signed by the six Governors’ of New England, inviting people to visit New England and its 22 landscape regions (i.e. Narragansett Bay, The Penobscot, The White Mountains, Lower Connecticut Valley, The Champlain Valley, etc.) for "this year's vacation".

* Trustees of Reservations' 1933 Report of the Massachusetts Landscape Survey

* In the 1950's the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Soil Conservation Service prepared a map and narrative information called "Problem Areas in Soil Conservation".
The maps and guidebooks, which would be published again in 1965 and re-issued in 1972, would evolve into a book and map
of "Land Resource Regions and Major Land resource Areas of the United States". This Agricultural Handbook # 296provided a broad synthesis of current knowledge about the soil resources of the US was designed primarily for use in the SCS in developing and coordinating its soil and water conservation programs. The map and narrative descriptions included a geographic hierarchy of:

Land Resource Units---geographic areas of land characterized by particular patterns of soil, climate, water resources, land use and farming (i.e. Mississippi Delta Cotton and Feed Grains Region)

* In 1968 the Federal Bureau of Outdoor Recreation concluded the “New England Heritage Study”(4) to assess the feasibility of establishing the Connecticut River Valley, as a National Recreation Area. The study report recognized “an outstanding array of historical, educational and cultural heritage, high quality scenic and recreational resources, and the need for a coordinated and interrelated program of public and private action”. New England’s views about “home rule” disagreed with the recommendations and Congress never acted on the study. However, the proposal outlined a multi-objective approach centered on heritage values and an integrated partnership for implementation.


* North Atlantic Regional Water Resources Study: Appendix N, Visual and Cultural Environment; North Atlantic Regional Water Resources Study Coordinating Committee, Research Planning and Design Associates, Inc., 1972

* New Jersey Pinelands, 1970-80

* Human Ecology in the Regional Plan, Dan Rose and Jon Berger, 1974

* In 1976 ??? the Subcommittee on Parks and recreation, of the House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, prepared a report entitled" Greenline Parks: An Approach to Preserving Recreational landscapes in Urban Areas". With the assistance of Charles E. Little of the Congressional Research Service, the Subcommittee summarized the need for a new approach to urban park acquisition and management, the U.S. and International precedents and antecedents for "Greenline Parks" and the potentials for a Federal Government role.

* National Urban Recreation Study, Technical Reports; Volume 1. 1978, USDOI/ NPS, HCRS
Urban Open Space: In 1976 Congress directed the U.S. DOI National Park Service 1976 to conduct the "National Urban Recreation & Open Space Study". The Conference Committee report for PL 94-422 directed the NPS to conduct a comprehensive review and report on the needs, problems, and opportunities associated with urban recreation in highly populated regions, including the resources potentially available for meeting such needs". The study was conducted in 17 major urban areas and included park, recreation and open space analysis. Major recommendations included: conserve open space for its natural, cultural and recreational values; establish additional National recreational Areas; establish a system of National Reserves to protect significant landscapes based on a partnership between local, state and federal governments.

The approach was intended where protection of landscape and environmental values is a primary concern, rather than intensive recreation or complete resource preservation. TH NJ Pine Barrens, Santa Monica Mountains, CA; and NY/NJ public Lands and Farmsteads were proposed along with Rocky Mt. Foothills/ Hogback Corridor of CO; Platte River Corridor, CO; the Delaware River from Easton to Levittown PA; the Lowell Heritage Park, MA; Hudson River Waterfront, NY; Center City Philadelphia/ Delaware River, PA. were proposed in this study.

The Greenline approach was influenced by Cape Cod, Adirondack, English Countryside Commission and seemed to evolve from NPS efforts such as Cuyahoga Valley NRA; Fire Island National Seashore; Point Reyes National Seashore; Lower Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway. The report was also intended to provide a professional analysis and opinion on the significance and suitability of sites identified as to their possible inclusion in the National Park System. Congress stated that "the more populous regions should be examined in detail sufficient to distill a policy and program agenda for the future".

* A Guide to New England’s Landscape, Neil Jorgensen, 1977

* A Report on Scenic Heritage Classification and Evaluation, E.H. Zube, Chairman, Scenic Heritage Classification System Panel, 1978

* A Proposal for a Landscape System Study, USDOI, Heritage Conservation & Recreation Service, 1980

* A Method for a Landscape Study, USDOI, Heritage Conservation & Recreation Service, 1981

* The Massachusetts Landscape Inventory, MA Department of Environmental Management, 1982. Grew out of DEM and TNC efforts to identify and locate important natural features---MA Natural Heritage Program established in 1979 to inventory plant and animal species; the effort resulted in the need to identify areas of significant landscape quality. Effort relied on USFS National Forest Landscape management Handbook but Scotland's Scenic Heritage, published by the Countryside Commission of Scotland that proved to be most relevant to MA's work. Work identified three classes to scenic quality distinctive (4%), noteworthy (5%) and common (91%).

* The Greenline Park Concept, National Park Service, 1982
(Including identification of landscapes by Joseph Hickey, State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental protection, 1982

* Greenline Parks, Land Conservation Trends For the Eighties and Beyond, NPCA, 1983

* An Act to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to providing for the protection and beneficial use of significant ecological, scenic, cultural and recreational landscapes as part of a system of natural scenic and recreational landscapes, Hinchey, others, 1984

* A Review of Conservation Efforts in Selected Landscapes of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States, National Park Service, 1985

* A Land Conservation Strategy for the New England region, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, 1985-86

* New Jersey Greenspace and Greenway Opportunities, Regional Plan Association, 1987

* The Committee on the Environment, New England Governor’s Conference, Inc. 1988

* Dealing with Change in the Connecticut River Valley: A Design Manual for Conservation and Development, January 1988 University of MA

* The Rhode Island Landscape Inventory, State of Rhode Island, 1990

* In 1990 a cooperative effort led by NY's Department of Environmental Conservation and NY's Parks and Conservation Association published a proposal entitled "New York's Scenic Landscapes. The proposal was intended to support a proposal made by the NY State legislature authorizing technical and financial assistance for preparing and implementing local management plans for NY's scenic landscapes. The proposal identified the need for such an effort, techniques which could be used by local efforts and 19 of NY's scenic and recreational landscapes (i.e. Finger Lakes region, Niagara River, Hudson River Valley, Eastern Long Island, etc.).

* In 1990 Jonathan Berger, a Cultural Anthropologist from the UPenn, prepared a report for the NJ Pinelands Commission on "Planning the Use and Management of the Pinelands: An Historical, Cultural, and Ecological perspective". The report, which was based on field work and the analysis of published and statistical data, was used to delineate a range of cultural sub-regions within the 1.1 million acre Pineland National reserve. The report summary indicated that "each of the Pinelands sub-regions has a basic set of actors, concerns, and a distinct natural environment, and each will be responsive to a different planning strategy.

* New York’s Scenic Landscapes, NPS, NY Parks and Conservation Association, NY-DEC, 1990