Visual and Cultural Resource Conservation at the Landscape Scale

While ecological or environmental conservation occur at the regional or landscape scale, scenic and cultural resources are dealt with only at the site scale or as afterthoughts in regional scale planning. They are not integrated into regional scale plans and yet there is no reliable, replicable method for including them in planning and conservation regimes. Development — particularly energy — and other large-scale landscape changes, such as climate change, are happening rapidly and over large regions. These changes need to be anticipated and plans need to be developed for protecting scenic and cultural resources along with the environment and ecosystem services. This research develops methods for addressing conservation concerns for scenic and cultural amenities at the landscape scale.