The Cultural Landscape Inventory is a comprehensive inventory of all historically significant landscapes within the National Park Service. This cultural landscape inventory documents the Johnson Settlement Area at the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park in Johnson City, Texas. The Johnson Settlement Area served as the headquarters for former president Lyndon B. Johnson’s paternal grandparents, Samuel Ealy Johnson and Eliza Bunton’s, open-range cattle ranch from 1867 through 1872. After the collapse of the cattle ranching enterprise, the land was sold to James Polk Johnson and later converted into a small-scale farm by John Bruckner. From 1970 through 1972, Lyndon B. Johnson was involved with the planning, acquisition, and donation of a portion of the original settlement property to the National Park Service. In 1972, a major restoration and reconstruction project was completed as the property was converted into an historic interpretive landscape administered by the National Park Service. The Johnson Settlement Area is primarily an open pastoral landscape with reconstructed livestock corrals and a cluster of restored and reconstructed building and structures that collectively convey the ranching and frontier heritage of former president Lyndon B. Johnson. The cultural landscape inventory documents the physical development and historical significance of the Johnson Settlement Area. The inventory evaluates the landscape characteristics of the district and considers the integrity and overall condition of this historic vernacular landscape. Further, the inventory assesses eligibility for the National Register of Historic Places. The Johnson Settlement Area Cultural Landscape Inventory expands the 1990 National Register of Historic Places nomination in its period of significance, boundaries and acreage, and National Register Criteria. / text

published_or_final_version / Architecture / Master / Master of Architecture

No description available.

This dissertation traces the history of cattle grazing at Saguaro NP, Organ Pipe Cactus NM and Fort Bowie NHS in southern Arizona. This collection of studies examines the factors affecting that use, the ranchers who made their living from the landscape, and the federal land managers responsible for sustaining the natural and cultural resources. A dominant industry on arid public lands since the Civil War, grazing was altered by a variety of influences: environmental and human-derived. Ranching communities developed from homesteading settlements. Success was determined by climate, topography, and natural resources; social and cultural pressures; economic events and political legislation; and later federal regulations and decisions. The first agency to oversee grazing, USFS was under constant pressure to maximize short-term human benefits. The NPS Organic Act of 1916 mandated conservation of natural resources "by such means as will leave them unimpaired for future generations" and yet approved cattle grazing, an extractive use, under USFS management. Park managers were frustrated by grazing practices not under their control. Parks were at a cultural and social disadvantage. Residents and politicians often expressed displeasure at park reservations; communities feared that parks would interfere with local industries. Park employees supervised visitors and developed recreation infrastructure; they came with little experience to manage livestock. Lack of funding for research, limited manpower, and political and administrative interference allowed cattle grazing to continue unregulated for decades altering vegetation and enhancing erosion. In the 1960s, changing values from the environmental movement, the waning power of the livestock industry, and the rise of activist scientists impelled NPS to act. Without monitoring data, NPS turned to legal opinions to terminate grazing. Now grazing is regulated and carefully monitored. NPS is mandated to incorporate research results into management decisions. Older grazing permits are being retired, but land acquisitions for park additions add new management challenges. Purchasing permits offers a new but financially limited opportunity to protect sensitive lands. Grazing has ended at all three parks, yet ecological changes and historic structures remain. As cultural and administrative legacies, those remnants offer opportunities to interpret a significant regional tradition and an untold controversy.

Since the transition to democracy, debates have revolved around the future role of civics in South Africa. Civics have been engaged in matters pertaining to protest against apartheid policies, which excluded black South Africans from decision-making processes. With apartheid dismantled, a need arose to redefine their roles. One view is that civics should remain mass-based and act as 'watchdogs', in order to ensure that local government becomes sufficiently democratic and sensitive to the needs of the community. The other view is that their role should shift from protest to development, with particular reference to housing, in order to help address the development needs of the community. If one supports the argument that civics should involve themselves directly in development, one needs to address some criticisms and doubts that have been raised. Some allege that civics cannot participate effectively in development because they do not represent the interests and concerns of the majority in the community. Their effectiveness in development is questioned on the basis that they do not have the capacity, given their lack of experience. Others, however, view civics as the appropriate vehicle to engage in effective development because, being in close contact with the community, they know best what the interests and priorities of the community are. Two casestudy areas, St Wendolins and Savannah Park, were selected to investigate the potential role of civics in development, with particular reference to housing delivery. This was done through interviews. The performance of civics in Independent Development Trust (IDT) projects in these areas was examined to assess their effectiveness as a basis for understanding their future role in housing development, particularly the consolidation process. The findings indicated that civics were not effective, largely because of internal and external factors. They do not have financial, administrative and technical skills essential for participating in effective housing development. Furthermore, they are not truly representative and do not have the resources to manage the process. On the other hand civics were constrained by the authorities and agencies who came with a predetermined package, which ignored effective participation and imposed development on them. As a reSUlt, civics were not empowered. and did not gain capacity because there was no effective transfer of skills. Notwithstanding these inadequacies, the study has argued for civic participation in housing development in the future because they are locally-based and are important organs of civil society which understands the aspirations and problems of their constituencies. This will be a move away from the 'top-down' approach which was employed by bureaucrats in the apartheid era. Civics need to play an effective role in development in order to complement the role of local government. To play this role, civics as well as the officials, need to change and adapt to the new participatory roles. Civics should be democratically elected, and should be engaged in all stages of development. They should undergo training which will enable them to acquire the necessary skills. Through participation in social compacts, civics can help promote housing development which corresponds to the needs and priorities of their constituencies. / Thesis (M.Sc.U.R.P.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1995.

In 1996, two years after the election of a fully democratic government and the return of South Africa as an acceptable member of international society, the Premier of South Africa's Limpopo Province met with his counterpart, the Governor of Gaza Province, in Mozambique, to discuss the potential of establishing business links between these two adjacent regions. As a result, an International Agreement to establish the Great Limpopo National Park (GLTP) was signed in 2000. Areas included in the GLTP are the Kruger National Park (KNP) in South Africa, Limpopo National Park (LNP) in Mozambique and the Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe. Other areas earmarked for inclusion are the Sengwe Communal land in Zimbabwe, and Zinave and Banhine National Parks in Mozambique. This thesis explores the processes of decision making throughout the administrative hierarchy of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park (GLTP), and evaluates these in terms of social and environmental justice principles. The three main objectives are: to identify decision making procedures and approaches currently being used in the setting up of the GLTP; to determine the extent to which decision making approaches have incorporated concerns relating to social and environmental justice; and to assess public participation in the GLTP to date - particularly at the community level. Findings indicate that the popular rhetoric surrounding the GLTP has, to date not taken place in reality. Many of the flagship projects have been met with opposition from the community. Social justice is not sufficiently prioritised within the GLTP, as shown by ongoing power differentials, prioritising of wildlife over people in terms of water rights, ongoing harsh treatment of "poachers", the disruption of traditional land use activities, and resettlement of villages into new and potentially different communities. Findings displayed in the questionnaire results, indicate that policies and action plans for the GLTP were developed by the state with little public participation. The community's powerless to influence any decisions or affect any change is encapsulated in the fact that they are, at present living with introduced wild animals. A public participation technique that took the form of a community barriers meeting did take place. This however did not contribute to the community having a say in the park plans. One cannot deny that decision makers have realised their mistake of bypassing community consultation and moving directly to implementation. It seems more effort is being made to bring communities into the process, through the formation of the Project Liaison Board, and thereby ensuring that they receive their promised benefit from the development of the GLTP. It is very difficult to try and categorise the type of approach to community conservation in the GLTP. Certain elements from all three relationships are evident, but more so from Protected Area Outreach. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2004.

Wetland vegetation is of fundamental ecological importance and is used as one of the vital bio-indicators for early signs of physical or chemical degradation in wetland systems. Wetland vegetation is being threatened by expansion of extensive lowland areas of agriculture, natural resource exploitation, etc. These threats are increasing the demand for detailed information on vegetation status, up-to-date maps as well as accurate information for mitigation and adaptive management to preserve wetland vegetation. All these requirements are difficult to produce at species or community level, due to the fact that some parts of the wetlands are inaccessible. Remote sensing offers nondestructive and real time information for sustainable and effective management of wetland vegetation. The application of remote sensing in wetland mapping has been done extensively, but unfortunately the uses of narrowband hyperspectral data remain unexplored at an advanced level. The aim of this study is to explore the potential of hyperspectral remote sensing for wetland vegetation discrimination at species level. In particular, the study concentrates on enhancing or improving class separability among wetland vegetation species. Therefore, the study relies on the following two factors; a) the use of narrowband hyperspectral remote sensing, and b) the integration of vegetation properties and vegetation indices to improve accuracy. The potential of vegetation indices and red edge position were evaluated for vegetation species discrimination. Oneway ANOVA and Canonical variate analysis were used to statistically test if the species were significantly different and to discriminate among them. The canonical structure matrix revealed that hyperspectral data transforms can discriminate vegetation species with an overall accuracy around 87%. The addition of biomass and water content variables improved the accuracy to 95.5%. Overall, the study demonstrated that hyperspectral data and vegetation properties improve wetland vegetation separability at species level. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2010.

Fire is a major disturbance force that affects global ecosystems and associated biomes and plays a pivotal role in the determination of ecosystem structure, functionality and dynamics. Anthropogenic environmental disturbances have resulted in shifts in fire regimes and the biogeochemical processes of these ecosystems are thus unable to function as they have done in the past, impacting both floral and faunal species. Therefore there is a need for anthropogenic management. Prescribed burning is one of the few beneficial fire management options available to decrease the severity of wildfires, decrease the associated costs in suppressing these fires and restore fire-dominated ecosystems. The uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park World Heritage Site (UDP-WHS) is predominantly managed for water resource and nature conservation, and fire hazard reduction. It is divided into management compartments in which prescribed management burns are conducted, (i.e. manager’s burn by compartment). These compartments are subdivided by three altitudinal belts (alpine, sub-alpine and montane). Each of these belts contains different vegetation communities and therefore requires different fire regimes. However these compartments do not coincide with the natural contours and consequently, the altitudinal belts of the Park. This is problematic for management as a certain percentage per altitudinal belt is required to be burnt annually. When burning a compartment that falls within two or more belts, the total area of that compartment needs to be sub-divided into its respective altitudinal belts as a whole compartment can be prescribed to burn not a sub-division thereof. A fire management environmental decision support system (EDSS) was developed to achieve prescribed burning objectives in the UDP-WHS. The system is based on ecologically ideal fire regimes and fire management objectives of the heritage site, using GIS and associated graphs to visually display the required fire regimes. The EDSS data preparation, statistical analysis and modelling was completed using ESRI ArcGIS suite (ArcMap, Scene and Catalog). Its main components are two models, an excel spreadsheet and an ArcMap document. The spreadsheet contains the historical burning data of the management compartments based on the compartment codes, with each compartment being not burnt or having a burning treatment. Years Since Last Burnt (YSLB) was calculated from these data and joined to the management compartments in the ArcMap document. The Intermediate output model was developed to create numerous temporary outputs allowing decision makers to decide which compartments to treat with prescribed burning by re-running the model with required alterations. The second model (Final Output model) is then run to export the selected burning treatment in table format to update the original historical data, and consequently YSLB, in the excel and ArcMap document. The ArcMap document contains the user interface housing the graphs for each altitudinal belt showing the percentage area selected to be burnt per YSLB compared to the minimal, maximum and ideal fire regimes. The fire management EDSS for the UDP-WHS consists of an ArcMap document, geodatabase, excel document and folders, which are all housed in one single folder. The use of GIS and EDSSs in environmental management improves the efficiency and accuracy of the decision making process and provides the ability to validate outputs. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2011.

Kulturmiljövårdens hantering av de gröna miljöerna har länge varit bristfällig, vilket Visby vallgravar utgör exempel på. Park­området som sträcker sig utmed ringmuren från norr till söder ger idag ett till viss del naturpräglat intryck trots att det under slutet av 1800-talet genomgick omfattande planteringar och därmed i hög grad är medvetet gestaltat. Detta har medfört att kun­skapen om varför vallgravarna ser ut som de gör är otillräcklig. När Visby togs upp på UNESCO:s världsarvslista 1995 pekades vallgravarna ut som buffertzon. På ett kontrasterande sätt har man från kommunal sida på senare år utvecklat planer för exploa­tering både i och nära inpå vallgravsområdet. Undersökningen har syftat till att med Visby som exempel belysa hur gröna kulturmiljöer kan komma att tolkas på olika sätt när vi väljer att tillskriva dem särskilda tidslager och därmed bortse från andra. Dessutom har syftet varit att syna hur buffert­zonskonceptet applicerats i den kommunala planeringen och på detta sätt lyfta fallet till ett internationellt perspektiv. Undersökningen har visat på att Planteringsgillets verksamhet till stor del format dagens vallgravsområde. Samtidigt har histo­riens bristande förvaltning tillsammans med senare års ”medeltidifiering” lett till att fokus riktats bort från senare historia och snarare koncentrerats till medeltiden. I relation till den medeltida världsarvsstaden och ringmuren har vallgravarna kommit att mer utgöra en kuliss än en del av kulturarvet. Buffertzonskonceptet har visats möta problem i implementering i nationell lagstift­ning vilket är ett av skälen till ett avvaktande förhållningssätt till området i världsarvsfrågan. Paradoxala motsättningar i form av exploateringsplaner och en vilja att utöka och tydliggöra världsarvet är ett av resultaten som uppvisat ett behov av att öka kun­skapen och på ett tydligare sätt säkra världsarvets och vallgravarnas fortlevnad. / The cultural heritage management’s handling of the green environments has long been inadequate, which Visby moats are exemplifying. The park area that extends along the city wall from north to south today provide a rather natural impression de­spite in the late 1800s undergoing extensive plantings and thus are highly deliberately formed. This has resulted in a poor under­standing of why the moats look like they do. When Visby was included in the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1995 the moats were pointed out as a buffer zone. In a contrasting way the municipal authorities have, in recent years, been developing plans for exploitation within and close to the moat area. The research has, with Visby as an example, aimed to show how green cultural environments might be interpreted in different ways when we choose to ascribe to them specific layers of time and thus ignore the others. Secondly, the aim has been to look into how the buffer zone concept is applied in municipal planning and in this way raise the case to an international perspective. The research has shown that the work of Planteringsgillet largely shaped today's moat area. Meanwhile, mismanagement through history along with recent years' “Middle Ageifying" have led to a focus directed away from recent history and rather concentrated on the Middle Ages. In relation to the medieval world heritage city and the city walls the moats have come more to represent a coulisse than a part of cultural heritage. The buffer zone concept has shown to face problems in the implementation in national law which is one of the reasons for a passive approach to the area concerning ​​the World Heritage issue. Paradoxical contradictions in the form of exploitation plans and a desire to expand and clarify the World Heritage Site is one of the results that have demonstrated a need to increase knowledge and a clearer way to secure the viability of the world heritage and the moats.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Dallas Theological Seminary, 2008. / Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 359-363).