Nature, Culture and Conservation: Defining Landscape Stewardship‪.‬

Introduction Recent trends in US conservation are contributing to a landscape stewardship model. Developments in the field of cultural landscape preservation and the establishment of a new national park in Woodstock, Vermont, offer new insights and methodologies for integrating historic and cultural resources with natural resource conservation. This integration re-connects a fragmented perspective of the environment that has developed from the traditional dichotomy of nature and culture. This dichotomy has been reinforced over the years by a strong wilderness preservation tradition, the building orientation of historic preservation, and the traditional separation between natural and cultural resource programs in the US. The concept of "landscape" can serve to bridge the perceived duality of nature and culture. In landscape stewardship, the protection of cultural heritage becomes a goal alongside natural heritage as an "end," not only as a means to an end. This integrated perspective also reflects the way people view places and the values of those places in relation to their lives. This definition of stewardship has been evolving over several years and is having a profound impact on conservation practice in the US. This approach holds great promise for furthering individual and community commitment and involvement in conservation action.