tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8788575.post1443541432691207790..comments2024-01-11T22:45:53.276-08:00Comments on Tom King's CRM Plus: Diversity and National Historic Landmarks?Thomas F Kinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00037819472341496713noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8788575.post-64140478304635243632015-06-04T07:59:55.197-07:002015-06-04T07:59:55.197-07:00NHLs and their natural counterparts, National Natu...NHLs and their natural counterparts, National Natural Landmarks, are very worthwhile designations, as long as they are not watered down by local listings. They should be extra special places of national significance - the San Fran Cable Cars NHL, the Barringer Meteor Crater NNL - not just another obscure government list, like the NR. Who decides what rises to the level of NHL or NNL ? What's the process ? I guess it's the same thing as deciding what new monument or heritage center will be allowed on the mall, where, and what it will look like. Or what paintings will hang where in the National Gallery, or what the exhibits in any of the mall museums will be about and look like. The process does the best that it can with good intentions, but it is not democratic, because there is no way to please everybody or represent everybody, or satisfy every taste and preference. This is also true of every federal interpretaive facility anywhere in the US. The NPS still instructs the public in the local development and the"Pueblo" ancestry of Chaco, and grants the Pueblo Tribes veto power over what is said and done about Chaco, even though fewer and fewer people still believe the great houses of Chaco had anything to do with the modern Pueblos. The NHL and NNLs are a form of interpreation, more art than science, and there is no way to make them consistent, 100% inclusive, or foolproof. But they are worthwhile because they can at least impress and please most of the people most of the time, and the cachet helps bring in tourist dollars to some areas that need them. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8788575.post-13677145840761669262015-06-01T10:10:46.578-07:002015-06-01T10:10:46.578-07:00There WAS some insightful discussion at the confab...There WAS some insightful discussion at the confab about how unreasonably the notion of “integrity” is interpreted when applied to NHLs, but the discussion could just as accurately have focused on National Register properties.Thomas F Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00037819472341496713noreply@blogger.com