NATIONAL PUBLIC LANDS DAY IS SEPTEMBER 24, 2022!

Saturday, September 24, 2022, is the 29th annual National Public Lands Day.

National Public Lands Day is the nation's largest single-day volunteer event for public lands. Established in 1994 and held annually on the fourth Saturday in September, this celebration brings out thousands of volunteers to help restore and improve public lands around the country. NPLD is also a “Fee-Free Day”— entrance fees are waived at many federal public lands.

Fee-Free Days

Martin Luther King Jr. Day - in January 

Presidents Day - in February 

Juneteenth - June 19

Great American Outdoors Day - August 4

National Public Lands Day - September 24

National Wildlife Refuge Week - begins Sunday of the 2nd full week of October

Veterans Day - November 11

 

The theme this year (2022) for NPLD is Giving Back Together. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, America's public lands acted as a safe haven for recreation, conversation, and the simple enjoyment of being outside the confines of our homes. In a time of disconnectedness and uncertainty, the outdoors brought people together and deepened our appreciation for the important role these spaces play in our lives. Now it's time for us to return the favor.

Enjoy the outdoors!

Recreating the Massasoit Spring House with 3Dimensional Modelling

For more information about cultural resource management on parks and protected areas, how about this. 

Abstract:

 The history of cultural landmarks has abundant examples for educational awareness and enlightenment. Yet hundreds, if not thousands, of sites have yet to achieve this notoriety, often given the lack of funding to restore the site to its previous condition.  For the sites found within our parks and protected areas, both nationally and within Massachusetts, one challenge for park managers, or property owners, is to preserve its cultural heritage, often with limited funding. It is this challenge that we attempt to propose a process for recreating our historical landscape based on archived materials and using computer animation. Three-dimensional computer modelling software provides one such tool to recreate these historic treasures, and adds to our knowledge of sites for historic preservation and educational opportunities. In this exploration, we recreate the setting of the nineteenth-century Massasoit Spring Water Company in West Springfield, Massachusetts, USA.  Protected watershed lands previously managed for no visitation are now open for tourism and passive recreation. With this analysis, we establish baseline data for educational and interpretive opportunities to aid in the evolving management concerns as the property shifts from a drinking water supply to lands supporting passive recreation, while also noting the significance of local landmarks that are a relic of the past.

 Keywords: historic springs, parks and protected areas, virtual archaeology, 3D modeling, nineteenth-century small industries

Citation?

Bristow, R. S., & Taylor, J. (2021).  Recreating the history of cultural heritage sites with 3Dimensional Modeling. Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites. 22:199-214  https://doi.org/10.1080/13505033.2021.1980265

  An image, not found in the journal article, looks like this:

 

Here is the page for the current issue of CMAS.