Traditional Cultural Properties and Cultural Landscapes: Issues for Landscape-Scale Conservation and Preservation

Issues facing the conservation and preservation of large, landscape-scale areas are numerous, extending well beyond boundary logistics, jurisdictional conflicts, and other basic concerns. Traditional cultural properties (TCPs) and other types of cultural landscapes carry special issues that must be considered in addition to the basics shared by others because of the nature of the cultural components that give such places their distinctive meanings. Some of the cultural issues in dealing with landscape-scale areas include the importance of landscape within the intersection of personal and tribal responsibilities, the concept of holistic interrelationships that crosscut the natural and cultural worlds, and the reticence of Indigenous groups to create artificial boundaries for the sake of convenience. This presentation will offer a short introduction to foundational concepts within cultural resources and their relationships with living people as well as a discussion of conceptual overlaps between programmatic approaches to protecting and preserving wide-ranging areas or importance.