<p> The National Park Service’s mission is to preserve and protect cultural heritage sites that have value to the American public. In the summer of 2016, I interned with Zion National Park Cultural Resource Program to conduct archaeological stabilization and preservation of a prehistoric site through public outreach. During my internship, I discovered the program did not adequately address imminent and long term needs to manage cultural resources threatened by human-caused disturbances. The lack of understanding towards prehistoric populations that lived in Zion Canyon and difficulties in past management practices contributed to increasing vulnerability to valued cultural resources. Discontinuous management practices throughout the park’s history led to unknown, vulnerable cultural resources deteriorating due to natural and human-caused disturbances including erosion, vandalism, and neglect. Public archaeology and outreach contributed to a large portion of the project and I developed important procedures to include and train the public who find value in protecting and preserving cultural resources in our National Parks. </p><p> In this thesis, I examine cultural resource management practices at Zion National park pertaining to the stabilization and preservation of a prehistoric site and analyze data from the site to provide a more encompassing site history for future researchers and the development of management practices. The review of past management practices and regional prehistoric history will enable me to create better procedures for managing vulnerable cultural resources at Zion National Park. The management procedures will include best practices for initiating public outreach programs in order to include audiences beyond the archaeological community to help preserve and protect cultural heritage at our National Parks.</p><p>
Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:10271965 |
Date | 01 July 2017 |
Creators | Mackay, Courtney E. |
Publisher | Northern Arizona University |
Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
Language | English |
Detected Language | English |
Type | thesis |
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