Ethnographic Applications in National Park Planning and Management
Nat Kuykendall, DSC Planning and Site Division Branch of Planning
February 26, 2003
Abstract: Proposing an alternative title as "When ethnography is still on the map" Kuykendall described the park planning context within which ethnography might fit, and then summarized several projects in which ethnography was conducted. He outlined legal mandates of ethnography in planning, such as the National Environmental Policy Act, National Historic Preservation Act, and the National Parks and Recreation Act of 1978. Then, he described the policy and different levels of planning derived from these statutes. He stressed that this legislation, policy, and planning came to focus when consulting with traditionally associated peoples during resource management planning. He outlined how consultation identified ethnographic resources, i.e. resources of specific cultural importance to these peoples, and how such identification could be complicated by various laws and statutes, and by the need to mediate and arbitrate during disputes and bring peoples ordinarily not involved in planning into the process. The presentation ended by stressing how the increasing dependency on partnerships with local communities makes the role of ethnography even clearer.
