Programming supports a comprehensive network of cooperative study units to facilitate cooperative research, technical assistance, education, and training to inform science-based management of the…

This Cooperative Agreement award from the Department of the Interior National Park Service National Office supports a comprehensive network of Cooperative Study Units to facilitate cooperative research, technical assistance, education, and training to inform science-based management of the National Park System. The $226,999 award, which runs from September 1, 2023 to December 31, 2026, will explore new methods of documenting and spatially representing cultural landscape phenomena, especially intangible aspects, using civil rights landscapes of the National Capital Region related to African-American heritage as study sites. The project will experiment with new combinations of cultural landscape documentation and interpretation methods to create more effective studies, plans, and decision-making guidance. The key outcome will be a Cultural Landscape Inventory reflecting civil rights heritage for National Park Service lands in the National Capital Region. This award is provided under the Cooperative Research and Training Programs - Resources of the National Park System (CFDA 15.945) program.

Programming supports a comprehensive network of cooperative study units to facilitate cooperative research, technical assistance, education, and training to inform science-based management of the national park system. The study units facilitate multi-disciplinary science and integrated information products across multiple geographic regions of the national park system. This agreement will explore new methods of documentation and spatial representation of cultural landscape phenomena, especially intangible aspects, using civil rights landscapes of the national capital region related to african-american heritage as study sites. The project will experiment with new combinations of cultural landscape documentation and interpretation methods including historical scholarship, landscape documentation, mapping and geospatial data collection, and ethnographic studies of contemporary communities to create more effective studies, plans, and decision-making (treatment) guidance. The project outcome will include a cultural landscape inventory (CLI) reflecting civil rights heritage for NPS lands in national capital region. Beneficiaries include state and local governments, federally recognized indian tribal governments, public private nonprofit organizations, nonprofit institutions of higher education, and the general public).