Performing Department
Landscape Architecture
Non Technical Summary
This project supports the planning and delivery of a National Park Service (NPS) culturallandscape preservation field school to be held June 14, 2015 to July 24,2015 at AcadiaNational Parle The field school will be offered as a three-credit off-campus course in theSUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry Summer Semester (course LSA470/670). This collaborative training program will utilize the cultural landscape resourcesat Acadia as a field laboratory to train college-level students in methodologies, processes,and techniques of cultural landscape preservation and park management. The field schoolwill include field inventory of the historic carriage road system at Acadia and will alsointroduce students to related topics including park operations and management, parkhistory, archival research, use of GPS and Gis for mapping, and theories and practices ofhistoric preservation. The research completed as pati of the field school will be used tosupport the Cultural Landscapes Inventory (CLI) Program in the NPS Nmiheast Region.The information gained from this research will also enhance resource preservationactivities and park interpretation to the general.Acadia National Park, located on Mount Dese1i Island and neighboring lands along theAtlantic coastline of Maine, was initially established as Sieur de Monts NationalMonument in 1916 based on a donation of private land to the federal government. In1919, it became Lafayette National Park, the first national park in the East, and wasrenamed Acadia National Park in 1929. Today, the park comprises more than 47,000acres. The park's historic hiking trail system, one of three primary circulation systems inthe park along with the motor roads and carriage roads, evolved over centuries fromAmerican Indians and European settlers use through development by village improvements societies and the Civilian Conservation Corp in the late nineteenth andearly twentieth centuries. Today, Acadia has over 125 miles of hiking trails. They includemany distinctive landscape characteristics, from changing natural settings and vistas, torustic wood and stone structures. The park's stewardship of the trails is supported byAcadia Trails Forever, a rehabilitation project funded by user fees, federal appropriations,and private donations from Friends of Acadia, the park's non-profit partner. The programestablished the first trails endowment in the National Park System. ·Adding the hiking trails system to the NPS Cultural Landscape Inventory is part of thepark's effmis to document all of its historically significant landscapes. The purpose of theCLI is to inventory all historic landscapes in the national park system and provideinformation on their location, historical development, character-defining features, andmanagement. The CLI assists park managers in planning, programming, and recordingtreatment and management decisions. This project addresses the 2010-2015 goals andobjectives of the NPS Park Cultural Landscapes Program. These include goal #2,Relevancy, through engagement of educational patinerships and defining gaps in ourcurrent knowledge, and goal #3, Stewardship, by completing base-line inventory anddocumentation through the application of scholarly research.
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
100%
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
This project supports the planning and delivery of a National Park Service (NPS) culturallandscape preservation field school to be held June 14, 2015 to July 24,2015 at AcadiaNational Parle The field school will be offered as a three-credit off-campus course in theSUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry Summer Semester (course LSA470/670). This collaborative training program will utilize the cultural landscape resourcesat Acadia as a field laboratory to train college-level students in methodologies, processes,and techniques of cultural landscape preservation and park management. The field schoolwill include field inventory of the historic carriage road system at Acadia and will alsointroduce students to related topics including park operations and management, parkhistory, archival research, use of GPS and Gis for mapping, and theories and practices ofhistoric preservation. The research completed as pati of the field school will be used tosupport the Cultural Landscapes Inventory (CLI) Program in the NPS Nmiheast Region.The information gained from this research will also enhance resource preservationactivities and park interpretation to the general.Acadia National Park, located on Mount Dese1i Island and neighboring lands along theAtlantic coastline of Maine, was initially established as Sieur de Monts NationalMonument in 1916 based on a donation of private land to the federal government. In1919, it became Lafayette National Park, the first national park in the East, and wasrenamed Acadia National Park in 1929. Today, the park comprises more than 47,000acres. The park's historic hiking trail system, one of three primary circulation systems inthe park along with the motor roads and carriage roads, evolved over centuries fromAmerican Indians and European settlers use through development by village improvements societies and the Civilian Conservation Corp in the late nineteenth andearly twentieth centuries. Today, Acadia has over 125 miles of hiking trails. They includemany distinctive landscape characteristics, from changing natural settings and vistas, torustic wood and stone structures. The park's stewardship of the trails is supported byAcadia Trails Forever, a rehabilitation project funded by user fees, federal appropriations,and private donations from Friends of Acadia, the park's non-profit partner. The programestablished the first trails endowment in the National Park System. ·Adding the hiking trails system to the NPS Cultural Landscape Inventory is part of thepark's effmis to document all of its historically significant landscapes. The purpose of theCLI is to inventory all historic landscapes in the national park system and provideinformation on their location, historical development, character-defining features, andmanagement. The CLI assists park managers in planning, programming, and recordingtreatment and management decisions. This project addresses the 2010-2015 goals andobjectives of the NPS Park Cultural Landscapes Program. These include goal #2,Relevancy, through engagement of educational patinerships and defining gaps in ourcurrent knowledge, and goal #3, Stewardship, by completing base-line inventory anddocumentation through the application of scholarly research.
Project Methods
A. Field School Planning and AdministrationPrior to staii of the field school, SUNY, in partnership with the NPS, will develop acuniculum and syllabus, and complete academic administration in the college's SummerSemester, including admission of up to six students. One of these students will be hiredas a graduate research project assistant to help with planning and operation of the fieldschool. The project will provide each of the field school patiicipants with a $1,000stipend to cover living expenses over the course of the field school. The project will alsocover the cost of housing for students, provide students with transportation to and fromSyracuse and Acadia National Pai·k, and may offer financial assistance to cover or offsettuition expenses.The project area for the CLI is one of the four districts of the 125-mile-long hiking trailsystem on Mount Dese1i Island. Iftime allows, the project may begin on a second district.The NPS Olmsted Center will determine the specific extent of inventory work, inconsultation with SUNY and Acadia National Park.B. Field School OperationSUNY, in partnership with NPS, will provide on-site faculty and staff to guide the workof the field school during the six-week period, present lectures and field studies inrelevant topics, present findings to the park as appropriate, and finalize inventory data.The SUNY graduate research project assistant will oversee day-to-day operation of thefield school throughout the six-week period, and serve as the point of contact for SUNYand NPS staff. SUNY will be responsible for completing the field inventory of all landscape characteristics and features within the project area as mutually agreed uponwith NPS staff. Final mapping, completion of the CLI repoti, and entering the data intothe CLAIMS computerized database, are not in the scope of this project.