Pretty cold here in New England

I was out on the Appalachian Trail yesterday.  Well not really the trail but the National Park Service lands. We are preparing some background info on cultural resource management.  My task is being a Volunteer Steward for the protection of one of these historic sites.  I get to work with some fine people from the local community, the AT Management Team in Massachusetts and the National Park Service.  Much more on this as it becomes a bit more organized. 

Returning home, I stopped by the corridor in Tyringham, trying out the Arc Collector App on my smart phone.  I am still trying to learn how to do this (and do it the same everytime) so this is still a work in progress.

One thing for sure is that it was cold, darn cold and operating a smart phone meant I had to take gloves off.  It was too cold to do this field work.

So, I hiked over to trail to return to the trail head and go home.  Hot peppermint tea was in a thermos.

Safe Recovery for Tortola

Had a chance to visit Tortola a few years back for a conference for International Small Islands Studies Association.

Organiser Islands XII – British Virgin Islands, 29 May-1 June 2012
“Globalisation: Islands Adapting to Change”
Ms Dana Lewis-Ambrose
H. Lavity Stoutt Community College
Tortola,  British Virgin Islands

I hope to return some day.  I alsohope the island can recover from the 2017 Hurricane season.

Archaeology and Hiking?

I have always had an interest in history.  Fortunately for me I can see historic features on the landscape when I hike.  Most common in New England are the many stone walls.

On my annual survey of National Park Service Appalachian Trail boundary bushwhacking, I get to check out many stone walls and this old foundation.

From old maps, I believe this is the farm of W. Morrison.

Source: Atlas of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, 1904.

I need to research that a bit more, but given the relative location of the foundation, the NPS property lines and topography, it seems logical.

Here is a short video of the details.

Industrial Archaeology

Industrial Archaeology: Protection of Heritage Sites in Parks and Protected Areas

Abstract

Parks and Protected Areas across the globe offer numerous opportunities for tourism.  In the United States, the one-hundred year history of the National Park Service (NPS) is responsible for many of these resources.  Within these parks we find thousands of archaeological and cultural resources.   While the more popular and well known sites are protected, thousands of smaller, lesser known sites are not. The management and protection of these valuable assets is imperative to insure these smaller, yet significant archaeological sites are preserved in our history.  The challenge facing managers is how to do this with limited funds and staffing.  This chapter offers guidelines for the protection of archaeological sites in parks and protected areas using a team of trained volunteer stewards.

Keywords: Industrial Archaeology, Heritage Tourism, Stewardship, Parks and Protected Areas

Manuscript under review.

Kiln number 4 and 5.

Happy Winter Solstice

Enjoy this day.  Darkness will be decreasing now and we will have more sunlight.

See where it is dark and light right now and live.

Travel behaviour influenced by projected climate change

See Travel behaviour substitution for a white-water canoe race influenced by climate induced stream flow.

L’Organisation mondiale du tourisme, le Programme des Nations unies pour l’environnement et l’Organisation météorologique mondiale ont identifié qu’une des conséquences du changement climatique est la modification du régime des précipitations. Cette étude analyse les variations dans les habitudes de déplacement des participants et des spectateurs d’une course annuelle de canoë, telle qu’influencée par la variation du débit de la rivière. Comme le débit de rivière varie selon les saisons, on peut anticiper un déclin ou un déplacement des loisirs aquatiques, advenant une réduction permanente du débit. À partir de données recueillies lors de deux éditions de la Annual Westfield River Wildwater Races, des entretiens ont été réalisés dans la zone de préparation tandis que les participants étaient dans la file d’attente. Des spectateurs de la course ont aussi été interrogés. Les deux échantillons annuels correspondent à une saison de faible débit et à une saison de débit normal et l’échantillon total est constitué de 142 éléments. Au cours d’une année de faible débit, qui devrait devenir la norme selon les modèles sur le changement climatique, les experts pagayeurs se sont déplacés sur de grandes distances, ce qui est caractéristique de la caractéristique de substitution de la destination, tandis que les spectateurs ont réduit leur distance de déplacement, ce qui suggère une baisse d’intérêt pour l’observation des courses.

or....

The World Tourism Organization, the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Meteorological Organization have identified one of the consequences of climate change is an interference of normal precipitation. This research investigates the changes in travel patterns by participants and spectators at an annual canoe race as influenced by variable stream flow. Given that stream flow varies seasonally, one might hypothesize that should a permanent reduction of water flow take place in the future, a decline or shift in water-based recreation might be expected. Using data collected over two years at the Annual Westfield River Wildwater Races, interviews were conducted at the staging area as participants waited in the queue. Observers of the race were also interviewed. The two sampling years represent a low flow season and a normal flow season and yield a sample of 142 parties. During the low flow season, one that is projected to become the norm under climate change models, expert paddlers travelled a greater distance characteristic of destination substitutability while spectators decreased travel distance and this suggests a reduction of interest in observing the race.

Tourism warning

yes, anyone who has travelled has been someplace that tourism hurts the local environment.

This list of people and physical harm is long......

In the Caribbean, recent reports recognize the harm.