A Natural Legacy

A Natural Legacy

Accounts of Ian McHarg's recent death brought sadness to my heart but gave me cause to assess the influence he has had on my life and career. I first heard Mr. McHarg speak in 1968 in Clemson, SC while I was studying to become a landscape architect.

That night, as he shared his stories and philosophy, I was sure I had found the right career direction. I decided that night that I would study under Professor McHarg at UPenn and came to Philadelphia years later. When I left UPenn I was filled with McHarg's ecological methods, his spirit and an enthusiasm for
what was possible.

McHarg has had a lasting impact on many countries, agencies, organizations and people. One of the places he has had a lasting impact is within the U.S. federal government. More than 50 of us, who attended UPenn chose the Mid-Atlantic Regional Office of the National Park Service in Philadelphia as a place to practice McHarg's design with nature. In the early 80's we took his principles of landscape architecture and regional planning and began to transform the way the federal government worked with State and local government and private groups to conserve, regenerate and use parks, communities, river corridors and landscapes.

McHarg's belief was that in order to understand a region, watershed or site, one must understand the place, its inhabitants and all the areas physical, biological and cultural history. He helped us to understand how people use their lands and waters and how that understanding can help us, help them, to make sound land use decisions in the future. He equipped us with an understanding of ecological values and functions, human ecology, environmental impacts and, of course, designing with nature. More than an environmental perspective, his model for planning and design included the ecology of people as well as other living organisms.

The result of McHarg's influence on our small portion of the federal government in Philadelphia has been long-lasting. In 1981 the people who he trained or embraced his philosophy began what is now the Rivers, Trails & Conservation Assistance Program of the National Park Service. It's a program that Bill Reilly, former Administrator of EPA, once described in testimony to Congress, as in "the best tradition of federalism and local initiative, as well as a contribution to the greater effort to protect our natural landscapes and vital ecosystems".

Since it's start the Rivers & Trails Program has expanded to include offices in forty locations, employing over two hundred and sixty community planners and landscape architects who provide services to thousands of communities.

The influence of Mr. McHarg and his disciples is all around us. This past year alone in the Delaware and Susquehanna valleys Congress enacted legislation creating partnerships between the National Park Service, States, local governments and the private sector in White Clay Creek in DE, in the river valleys of the Delaware, Schuylkill and Lackawanna in PA and in Wheeling, WV. All of these partnerships where shaped by, and succeeded because of, Ian's philosophy and his followers.

Mr. McHarg's passing greatly saddens many of us. His service recently in London Grove marks the passing of his natural legacy to the next generation of landscape architects and ecological planners. He told us the "we must do more than sustain the planet, we must design and regenerate communities and landscapes". His vision and work will live on.


J. Glenn Eugster
Assistant Regional Director
National Park Service, National Capital Region
1100 Ohio Drive, SW Room 350
Washington, DC 20242
(202)619-7492 Day #
(703)845-8947 Eve#
Home address: 2727 Franklin Court, Alexandria, VA 22302


About the author: Mr. Eugster attended UPenn's Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning from 1974-1976. He was Chief of the NPS Division of Park & Resource Planning in Philadelphia from 1980-89 he helped create the Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program. He has worked for the US EPA
Chesapeake Bay Program and the Office of the Administrator and currently heads the Partnerships Program in NPS's Regional Office in Washington, DC. Last month he opened an NPS Rivers & Trails Program in Potomac River watershed.