The Cultural Landscape Foundation, Presidio Trust, Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy and National Park Service Host Bridging the Nature‐Culture Divide III: Saving Nature in a Humanized World Friday, January 23, 2015
Media Contact: Nord Wennerstrom | T: 202.255.7076 | E: nord@tclf.org
Additional events include visit to Ai Weiwei Exhibition on Alcatraz Island & tours of the Presidio
Washington, DC (November 13, 2014) – The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) and co-sponsors The Presidio Trust, the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy and the National Park Service will host Bridging the Nature‐Culture Divide III: Saving Nature in a Humanized World Friday, January 23, 2015, at the newly renovated Presidio Officer’s Club (registration is now open). The one-day conference, co-curated by Michael Boland, Chief Planning, Projects & Programs Officer, The Presidio Trust and Charles A. Birnbaum, TCLF’s Founder & President, examines the interaction of nature and culture in the transformation of the historic military post into a national park site and in its ongoing stewardship. The program features experts from the U.S. and Canada, and follows up on the sold-out similarly themed conferences held in 2012 in conjunction with the Central Park Conservancy in New York City, and 2011 at the Jay Heritage Center in Rye, New York. The conference is preceded by a visit to Alcatraz Island and an exclusive tour of the exhibition @Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz on Thursday, January 22 (a separately ticketed event), and is followed on Friday, January 23 by a reception at the California Historical Society (a separately ticketed event). On Saturday, January 24 there will be Forums on Foot tours of the Presidio (separately ticketed events). LA CES™ professional development hours are available. A limited number of reduced price student registrations are also available with proof of university program and anticipated graduation date.
The 80,000-acre Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) contains some of the nation’s most significant natural and designed landscapes. The Presidio of San Francisco, once the headquarters for the military lands that gave rise to the GGNRA, sits at its center. The Presidio Trust manages the interior acres of the Presidio; the National Park Service oversees the coastal areas. Both agencies partner with the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy to develop philanthropy, undertake capital improvements, and provide programs and visitor services.
Managing this expansive cultural landscape is complex and costly. Among the greatest management challenges is addressing the park’s inherent natural, scenic and cultural assets, while also mediating the often-passionate constituencies that represent them. In this conference, landscape architects, ecologists, journalists, academics, managers of similarly diverse systems and other professionals will address sustainability, the agendas of different constituencies, diversity, the role of people, public engagement and education.
The conference features two panels addressing this stewardship dilemma: “Preserving Nature in the Urban Environment” and “Building Awareness and Galvanizing the Public.”
Michael Boland, Chief Planning, Projects & Programs Officer, The Presidio Trust
Charles A. Birnbaum, Founder & President, The Cultural Landscape Foundation
Geoff Cape, Founder & CEO, Evergreen Brick Works
Frank Dean, General Superintendent, Golden Gate National Recreation Area
Peter Del Tredici, Associate Professor in Practice, Harvard Graduate School of Design
Robin Grossinger, Senior Research Scientist, San Francisco Estuary Institute
Brad McKee, Editor-in-Chief, Landscape Architecture Magazine
Craig Middleton, Executive Director, The Presidio Trust
Greg Moore, President & CEO, Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy
Nina Roberts, Professor, San Francisco State University & Director, Pacific Leadership Institute
Sarah Schultz, Director of Education & Curator of Public Practice, Walker Art Center
Chris Spence, Director, Institute at the Golden Gate
About The Presidio Trust
The Presidio Trust is a federal agency created to save the Presidio and transform it for a new national purpose. The Trust's vision is that the Presidio will be forever a public place: vital to the Bay Area, important to all Americans, and recognized for achieving broad benefits for the nation.
About the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy
The Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy is the nonprofit membership organization that supports the Golden Gate National Parks-the most-visited unit in the U.S. national park system. Since 1981, the Parks Conservancy has provided over $300 million in aid for site transformations, trail improvements, habitat restoration, research and conservation, volunteer and youth engagement, and interpretive and educational programs. Conservancy-funded projects, in partnership with the National Park Service and Presidio Trust, are visible across the parks' 80,000 acres including the Presidio, Crissy Field, Muir Woods, Lands End, Alcatraz, and more. The Conservancy's work is made possible through the dedication of its members and donors; contributions from foundations, businesses, public agencies, and generous individuals; and earned income from the operation of park stores, cafes, and tours. Learn more at parksconservancy.org or call 415.561.3000.
About the National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is a federal agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior charged with managing the preservation and public use of America's most significant natural, scenic, historic, and cultural treasures. The NPS manages the Golden Gate National Parks, as well as 400 other park sites across the United States. For more information, visit nps.gov/goga.
About The Cultural Landscape Foundation
The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) is a 16-year-old 501(c)(3) non-profit foundation that provides people with the ability to see, understand and value landscape architecture and its practitioners, in the way many people have learned to do with buildings and their designers. Through its Web site, lectures, outreach and publishing, TCLF broadens the support and understanding for cultural landscapes nationwide to help safeguard our priceless heritage for future generations. TCLF makes a special effort to heighten the awareness of those who impact cultural landscapes, assist groups and organizations working to increase the appreciation and recognition of cultural landscapes, and develop educational tools for young people to better connect them to their cultural landscape environs.
