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Designing the Parks at Cape Cod National Seashore

A group of young people and staff poses near a tree at Baker-Biddle Homestead
The 2017 Designing the Parks team at the Baker-Biddle Homestead

NPS Photo

This summer, Cape Cod National Seashore hosted the 2017 class of National Park Service Designing the Parks interns and volunteers for five days of hands-on learning.

The seashore’s diverse landscapes served as a powerful classroom for these aspiring cultural resource stewards.

The 2017 Designing the Parks group learns about the documentary history of Cape Cod through maps with park staff.
The group learns about the documentary history of the Cape through maps with park staff.

NPS Photo

The group was drawn from the National Park Service’s Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation, Minute Man National Historical Park, Gateway National Recreation Area, Salem Maritime National Historical Park, and the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry.

The participants joined with NPS staff to assist the park with various cultural landscape stewardship projects.
The Designing the Parks team completes hands-on stewardship of the native planting beds at Salt Pond Visitor Center
The team completes hands-on stewardship of the native plant beds at the Salt Park Visitor Center.

NPS Photo

The seashore’s diverse landscapes served as a powerful classroom for these aspiring cultural resource stewards.

During their time at the park, the group:

  • explored the park's recently restored modern homes with the Cape Cod Modern House Trust,
  • inventoried the Baker-Biddle homestead and Pamet Cranberry Bog in support of the National Park Service Cultural Landscape Inventory,
  • completed hands-on landscape stewardship around the Salt Pond Visitor Center,
  • hiked the sand dunes of the Peaked Hill Bars Historic District,
  • visited Fort Hill and the Red Maple Swamp, and
  • met with park staff to learn about various aspects of park management.
The 2017 Designing the Parks team gathers under a tree to learn from park resource management staff.
The group learns about the history of Pamet cranberry bog with Cape Cod National Seashore resource management staff.

NPS Photo

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Assisting with a cultural landscape field inventory at the Pamet cranberry bog house
The team assists with a cultural landscape field inventory at the Pamet Cranberry Bog House.

NPS Photo

Cape Cod National Seashore

Last updated: May 21, 2019