As I pass the half way mark of my summer work I am grateful for all of the new things I am learning and opportunities offered to the NPS Designing the Parks internship. Paramount of which is the week we spent in Acadia National Park. To limit the number of times we repeat details of our Acadia experience I want to speak about what I found most important from our time there; our Cultural Landscape Inventory (CLI) update work.
Our work updating existing inventories consisted of the repeat photography of landscape features to show change over time. We also hunted down other landscape features that were noted in the report, but not in any photographs, and reported on changes to the park. Taking the time to plan with a site map and the CLI before venturing into a site was a tactic I found extremely helpful. As we generate a list of landscape features to be inventoried at the Home of FDR National Historic Site (HOFR) and the Home and Upland Farms I could not imagine not preparing maps to assist us with identifying where specific features are located. During my time in Acadia I also wish I had even more time to prepare with the existing CLI and understand the history of the site, what informed its layout and construction of its landscape features. I feel I could be better prepared to understand the Non-Contributing features that have been added to the site to accommodate the visitors of the park.
features listed in excel on our maps.
Recently, the SUNY ESF, Home of FDR National Historic Site team has been preparing for our site visit. Vera and I have been generating a list of landscape characteristics to be inventoried. This differs from our Acadia work because there is no existing CLI to guide us and we will be setting the foundation for our trip. After pouring through a National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, Historic Resource Studies, Cultural Landscape Reports, and Facility Management Software System (FMSS) data we have generated an excel table of 136 Landscape Features in The Home of FRD Springwood area and 74 Landscape Features in the Home Farm and Upland Farms area just to the east. Connor, who has been preparing the maps, came together with Vera and I to develop a convention of subdividing the site and labeling where each feature will be located for the inventory. This will set us up for a time efficient and directed 3 days of inventory work. In a pre-planning meeting George Curry, Center for Cultural Landscape Preservation Co-Director, could not hide how much of a task it would be to inventory our two large sites and update CLI’s for the Bellefield estate, J.R. Roosevelt’s Place, Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site, and FDR’s retreat; Top Cottage with only Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday, and Thursday morning. It is my hope that the time we have spent in this pre planning phase will be enough to allow us to work quickly and with great detail.
“It’s not all sexy maps and graphics”
The process of developing a chronology and inventory list is an approach to landscape architecture that is not the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of the products a professional will produce. It’s not all sexy maps and graphics. Sometimes the most important tool for the management of a National Park can be a thorough report that explains the condition that is to be maintained and why it is important. In my experience doing restoration tree plantings in the parks of Syracuse I’ve found Parks maintenance can often trend to faster, easier, and cheaper; not the historic. Having a clear understanding of why things that are slower, harder, and more expensive are important is necessary for retaining the character of a historic landscape and I hope to bring that into not only our process work, but our final product.
Up next? Field work!
Designing the Parks 
Thanks Justin. May I quote you…?