Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Geography / Kevin Blake / With their windswept ridges and wind-rent skies, prairies and plains have often been denigrated as nothing but nothing—empty, meaningless, valueless space. Mountains and forests, oceans and deserts have been praised and protected while vast expanses of undulating grasslands have been plowed under, grazed over, used, abused, maligned. Once the largest ecosystem on the North American continent, wild prairies now persist mainly in overlooked or unwanted fragments. In part, it’s a matter of psychology; some people see plains as visually unpleasing (too big, too boring) or physically alienating (too dry, too exposed). It’s also part economics; prairies seem more productive, more valuable as anything but tangles of grass and sage. But at heart, it’s a matter of sociocultural and individual biases; people seeking bucolic or sublime landscapes find “empty,” treeless skyscapes flat and dull, forgettable. Scientific, social, and especially aesthetic appreciation for plains requires a different perspective—a pause in place—an exploration of the horizon as well as an examination of the minutiae, few people have strived to understand and appreciate undifferentiated, untrammeled space. This research seeks to change that by example, using conscientious, systematic reflection on first-hand experience to explore questions fundamental to phenomenology and geography—how do people experience the world? How do we shape places and how do places shape us?—in the context of plains landscapes. Written and illustrated from the perspective of a newcomer, a scholar, a National Park Service ranger, a walker, a watcher, a person wholly and unabashedly in love with wild places, the creative non-fiction narratives, photoessays, and hand-drawn maps address themes of landscape aesthetics, sense of place, and place-identity by tracing the natural, cultural, and managerial histories of and personal relationships with Arizona’s Petrified Forest National Park, South Dakota’s Badlands National Park, Kansas’s Konza Prairie Long-Term Ecological Research Station, and Wyoming’s Fossil Butte National Monument. Prosaic and photographic meditations on wildness and wilderness, travel and tourism, preservation and conservation, days and seasons, expectations and acceptance, even dreams and reality intertwine to evoke and illuminate the inspiring aesthetic of spacious places—Zen of the plains.

Fort Clatsop National Memorial is a unit of the National Park Service in Clatsop County, Oregon. The memorial was established by an Act of Congress in 1958 to commemorate the culmination and 1805-1806 winter encampment of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The memorial centers around a replicated fort structure. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the process of preserving historic sites under the National Park Service (NPS) by examining the history of Fort Clatsop National Memorial. Through this examination it is possible to understand the realities of the national preservation system and the ideals fostered by those involved in the system. The Fort Clatsop site became the subject of folk history in Clatsop County, which culminated in a community movement for national recognition. During the community sponsored l 50th anniversary celebration of the Expedition, local civic groups built the existing fort replica. The management needs of the replica caused the site owner, the Oregon Historical Society (OHS), to actively pursue national recognition. To achieve the creation of a national memorial, OHS and community members enlisted the help of Senator Richard L. Neuberger. Senator Neuberger drafted and successfully sponsored legislation for the creation of the memorial. Since the memorial's creation in '1958, the site has been under the management of the National Park Service (NPS). As a historical, commemorative unit, the NPS is responsible under the 193 5 Historic Sites Act for presenting the history of the Expedition to the public. Such historic interpretation includes the use of costumed demonstrations, exhibits, and other interpretive media. Fort Clatsop also represents the ideals of education and inspiration in NPS interpretive policies. In conclusion, the examination of Fort Clatsop illustrates factors involved in the creation of historic sites within the NPS and how private individuals and Congress affect the selection of historic sites for preservation. While illustrating how the private sector and Congress can decide what historic sites are preserved under the park system, this examination also illustrates how the park system handles those sites placed under its management and how NPS management helps shape public memory.

The topic of protected area management serves as the focal point of my thesis. The fundamental question I seek to answer is; what constitutes effective environmental management and how is it exemplified in the National Park Service (NPS)? How exactly does the NPS continually earn the trust and confidence of the American people when so many other government agencies are viewed in a negative light? How does the Channel Islands National Park, in particular, shape the economic and political framework in which it operates to achieve its goals? How does this agency effectively manage such a complex ecosystem spanning across five unique islands and the surrounding waters? More specifically, I examine how the NPS designs and implements strategies to simultaneously monitor a variety of endemic species, some of which are on the endangered species list, into feasible tasks and fundable projects. A wealth of information exists providing salient recommendations for improving endangered species recovery efforts, but this paper provides a detailed comparison of two contemporary recovery programs dealing with independent declines of the same species: the island fox. Finally, there is an overlapping mix of jurisdiction responsible for protecting the Channel Islands and I will also be examining the collaborative processes that take place among the multiple stakeholders such as the U.S. Navy, Catalina Island Conservancy, and The Nature Conservancy. The primary purpose of this thesis is to assess the relationships the NPS develops with other agencies in order to fulfill its mission within the context of the Channel Islands.

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

This study is one of the responses by the National Park Service to requirements in NAGPRA. The study was commissioned by the NPS Applied Ethnography Program in Washington, D.C., to identify individuals and tribes affiliated with the objects of cultural patrimony, sacred objects, or unassociated funerary objects at five NPS units, review those unit summaries, assist park or center staff in initiating consultation regarding those objects, and conduct a case demonstration consultation for Pipe Spring National Monument. The project was administered under Cooperative Agreement #8100 -1 -0001 between the Western Archeological and Conservation Center, National Park Service and the University of Arizona. While this study was specific to NAGPRA- related issues, the NPS does stipulate in its Management Policies (1988) that consultation with Native Americans will occur with regard to cultural resource issues. NAGPRA is not the only consultation arena the NPS is currently involved in with Native Americans.

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.

x, 111 p. ； ill. (some col.), maps / Mission 66 was a ten-year program that began in 1956 and concluded in 1966, the 50th anniversary of the founding of the National Park Service. The stated goal of Mission 66 was to increase public access and enjoyment of the national parks through a program of development and reconstruction. However, wilderness conservationists and environmentalists criticized the program heavily during its time. This reaction has left Mission 66 with a controversial legacy that reflects negatively on the historical developments of the program. The goal of this thesis is to delve into why Mission 66 was such a controversial program by examining the historic roots of wilderness and environmental thought in the national parks in the United States. It is hoped this study work will provide an important perspective on Mission 66 that can be utilized in the ongoing conversation about Mission 66 and its cultural legacy. / Committee in charge: Dr. Robert Z Melnick, Chair; Hugh C. Miller, Member;

abstract: This dissertation examines the conception, planning, creation, and management of Fort Union National Monument (FOUN) in northeastern New Mexico. Over approximately the last eighty-five years, writers, bureaucrats, boosters, and the National Park Service (NPS) have all been engaged in several different kinds of place-making at FOUN: the development of a written historical narrative about what kind of place Fort Union was (and is); the construction of a physical site; and the accompanying interpretive guidance for experiencing it. All of these place-making efforts make claims about why Fort Union is a place worthy of commemoration, its historical significance, and its relationship to local, regional, national and international contexts. The creation and evolution of Fort Union National Monument as a memorial landscape and a place for communion with an imagined past—in short, a site of memory and public history—is only the latest chapter in a long history of migration, conflict, shifting ownership, and land use at that site. I examine the evolution of a sense of place at Fort Union in two broad time periods: the twenty-five years leading up to the monument’s establishment, and the seven decades of NPS management after it was created. Taken as a case study, the story of FOUN raises a number of questions about the basic mission and meaning of NPS as a cultural institution and educational organization; how the agency conceptualizes and “talks about” Native Americans and the Indian Wars; the history and practice of public history; and how best to address sites like Fort Union that seek to historicize America’s imperial past. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation History 2016

This thesis illustrates the accomplishments and challenges of enhancing accessibility across the national parks, at the same time that great need to diversify the parks and their interpretation of American disability history remains. Chapters describe the administrative history of the NPS Accessibility Program (1979-present), exploring the decisions from both within and outside the federal agency, to break physical and programmatic barriers to make parks more inclusive for people with sensory, physical, and cognitive disabilities; and provide a case study of the Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site (HOFR) in New York. The case study describes the creation of HOFR as a house museum and national historic site, with a particular focus on the history of the site’s accessibility features; considers existing barriers; and makes recommendations for programmatic changes to improve the experience for disabled and nondisabled visitors. By collaborating with and learning from nearby organizations by and for people with disabilities, HOFR can serve as a model for other historic house museums in how to effectively interpret “disability stories.” Contemplating how the National Park Service has interpreted the histories and heritage of other historically marginalized communities through theme studies, on-site interpretation, and public history scholarship yields lessons for how best to interpret disability history and depict nuanced representations of the varied disability communities living in the U.S. The inclusion of “disability stories” and representation of people with disabilities in the past will help foster deeper connections with and welcome diverse visitors to the parks.

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