An annual feature in the Living Landscape Observer is a countdown of the year's top posts. Looking back two years - to 2020 - the articles of most interest focused on efforts to roll back environmental regulations and reduce both conservation funding and protection for public lands. What was of interest last year in 2021? Articles that attracted your attention examined the new administration’s sweeping landscape scale initiatives, backed up by the good news of more conservation dollars.
So, we begin 2022 on a more optimistic note. However, on the ground, there is still a deadly pandemic affecting families and whole community ecosystems. Political divisions have now spilled over into confrontations on cultural issues and conflicts over history and its interpretation. Indeed, even modest efforts to place the past in context, as told in this month's post the Perils of Marking Where History Happened, can spark controversy. There is more work to do.
The Living Landscape Observer is a website, blog and monthly e-newsletter that offers commentary and information on the emerging field of large landscape conservation.
In 2020, it often seemed as if each day held a year’s worth of headlines. As a result, stories that might have merited front page coverage in the recent past managed to escape significant media and public scrutiny. Our most popular post of 2020, “While We Were Not Watching,” tried to capture some of these missing narratives, especially as they related to the protection (or lack thereof) of large landscapes. More hopeful writings on the potential for large landscape conservation to aid in economic revitalization or contribute to the practice of interpretation and storytelling, also garnered attention over the past year. Read More Here.
Reflecting on: What You Were Reading in 2021
This past year, our most popular stories were an interesting mix of old and new, with readers gaining inspiration from history, while also looking ahead to the future. The early months of 2021 were marked by a tentative optimism. The new administration in Washington, D.C. signaled a strong commitment to conservation by announcing support for the 30 x 30 initiative, and the President’s Budget promised big new investments in climate change mitigation, as well as enhanced funding for land management agencies struggling to recover from years of budget cuts. However, gridlock in Congress stymied much of the progress. Follow the link to see the issues that caught your attention.
In Pennsylvania, over 2,500 state historical markers dot the roadsides. Some of the markers are over a century old. A recent systemwide review of the marker’s text was not without controversy. It also generated a thoughtful blog post. The post provides an analysis of the markers' content across the Commonwealth, including an examination of those that purport to tell Indigenous and African American histories. Timely thoughts as public history agencies struggle to do the right thing, including by examining their past actions and priorities.