Landscape Mapping in Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park Personnel: Joshua Sky, Leslie Morrissey Cooperators: Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park

Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park is the first unit of the national park system to focus on the theme of conservation history and the changing nature of land stewardship in America.  Frederick Billings created the estate in the late 19th century as a progressive dairy and a professionally managed forest following the principles of land stewardship espoused by George Perkins Marsh.  The park represents more than a century of careful land management. We are working to understand the process of landscape change through the integration of historical maps, aerial images and traditional source material into a comprehensive GIS database of the park.  This project will test the effectiveness of remote sensing, GIS and GPS as analytical tools for historical landscape research.  When complete the GIS database, and related project report, will allow the Park Service to protect the important cultural Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park.  The legacy of conservation history on this property is held within its landscape and our project goal is to understand the process by which this patchwork matrix came to exist.