Cultural Resource Management in Context

In the United States, much of historic preservation is carried out in a framework of cultural resource management. Cultural resource management is increasingly being conducted as heritage management in the larger context of ecosystem management or ecological stewardship. Cultural resources are an important factor in the human environment, and must be managed in the context of all other biological, social, and geophysical elements in that environment or ecosystem. Good environmental stewardship requires affirmative resource management, including management of our tangible and intangible cultural resources. Many scientists are involved in cultural resource management, either directly or indirectly and either consciously or unconsciously. There is increased public awareness of the value of cultural resources, and their protection involves the knowledgeable and caring collaboration of resource specialists (e.g., anthropologists, archaeologists, architects, archivists, engineers, folklorists, historians), material scientists, decision-making land managers, and the living community with ties to the heritage resources. This in turn involves each participating community and individual (including the scientists) managing the interfaces among themselves. This is done by learning something about (and learning to appreciate) other groups' values and special languages and their operating constraints and opportunities, and about the overall public benefits and costs of cultural resource management decisions.