Living Landscape Observer editor Brenda Barrett has been awarded the
George Wight Society's
Communications Award.
Every two years, the society recognizes outstanding accomplishments in fields associated with research in, administration and management of, and communications about parks and other kinds of protected areas, cultural sites. The
Communications Award
recognizes excellence in communication, interpretation, or related areas. It is given specifically to acknowledge outstanding efforts in communicating highly technical or controversial park-related subjects to the public in a clear and understandable manner.
Read about all the award winners here.
Legislative Update on National Heritage Areas Program
For years, National Heritage Area supporters have sought to establish a statutory framework for the National Park Service's role in administering the program. At an April 30, 2019 House hearing on the latest bill - H.R. 1049 - Deputy NPS Director P. Daniel Smith testified that the Department of Interior supported the bill, but asked that the committee defer action to allow the Department to work with the sponsor and the committee on revisions to address the issues with the program.
On the one hand his testimony praised the program for its public private partnerships and its success in telling nationally significant stories. On the other hand, however, he noted that the administration's
FY 2020 budget has zeroed the program out in order to focus resources on reducing the National Park Service's $11.9 billion deferred maintenance backlog and other critical national park needs
Even more ominously he warned, "There are 30 national heritage areas out of the total 55 whose funding authority will sunset in 2021. A time is quickly approaching when it may not be as easy for Congress to extend the authority of heritage areas on a case-by-case basis, as it has been when only two or three extensions were needed in any given year."
National Park Foundation and National Park Service Launch New Postdoctoral Fellowships
The Conway Science Fellowship is now accepting applications for its inaugural year. Three fellows will be selected to work on the following topics: 1) Addressing increasing visitor use by integrating social science and resource stewardship,
2) Enhancing ocean and coastal resource stewardship, and 3) Embracing collaborative conservation at the landscape scale. For more information, visit
