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Home > The
Special Resource Study > First Steps: Evaluating Goals and
Concepts
First Steps: Evaluating Goals and Concepts
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Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge,
Cambridge,
Maryland (National Park Service). |
In conducting a study to determine whether an
area is an appropriate addition to the national park system to be
created, it is often useful to start with these questions.
- What are the different concepts to apply to
the resources (historic properties, wetlands, uplands, water,
cultural landscapes etc) that would be included?
- What general types of resource conditions are
to be achieved: preserve historic structures and districts; conserve
cultural traditions; preserve natural areas; protect working landscapes;
restore damaged landscapes?
- What kind of public access and use is necessary
and appropriate for these types of resources?
- What type of private (or state or local) ownership
and use is compatible with these conditions?
Then we look at what to call "it."
Focusing on one park "title" or another is often
more confusing because there is a history of inconsistency in the
way the titles have been applied. Furthermore, the general public
may not care about the sometimes subtle differences implied by various
titles. But they do care about how an area might be managed and
what implications that might have for various uses, activities,
and land ownership.
This approach suggests that concepts be developed
around resource type and intended use rather than by park "title"
(park, preserve, historic site, historical park). In this study
there are many varied sites with greater or lesser degreee of resource
integrity and association with Tubman to examine. The study
team will be looking at these features as it begins to develop
concepts.
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