Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park - Kennesaw State ...

Comprehensive Interpretive
Planning Process at Kennesaw
Mountain NBP
...the Comprehensive Interpretive
Planning process is not a recipe,
but a guide to eff ective, goal-driven
planning…. The LRIP defi nes the
overall vision and long-term (5 to 10
years) interpretive goals of the park….
(Directors Orders 6, page 6)
In developing this Long-Range
Interpretive Plan (LRIP) as part of the
Comprehensive Interpretive Planning
(CIP) process, an individualized
planning process was devised that
collected input from employees from
all the battlefi eld’s divisions and
representatives from the park’s two
primary partners: the Kennesaw
Mountain Historical Association
(KMHA), and the Kennesaw Mountain
Trail Corps (KMTC). This project’s
Project Agreement, as drafted
and approved by the battlefi eld’s
Superintendent and Harpers Ferry
Center’s Director, called for three LRIP
Workshops. An additional Confi rmation
Workshop was conducted in August,
2010 for the purpose of incorporating
stronger African American perspectives
into park interpretation.
During a 3-day LRIP Foundations
Workshop in July 2007, the participants
reviewed, revised, and developed the
foundation sections for the battlefi eld
such as its legislative background,
purpose statements, signifi cance
statements, management goals, and
visitor experience goals. The workshop
participants also developed interpretive
theme statements in three levels,
collected visitation data and described
visitor trends, listed the issues and
infl uences that aff ect interpretation,
and described the battlefi eld’s existing
interpretive conditions.
A second, 2-day LRIP
Recommendations Workshop was
held in October 2007 to develop ideas
to improve the visitor experience
through personal service off erings and
education programs.
A third, 3-day LRIP Recommendations
Workshop was held in November
2007 to discuss ideas and make
recommendations on how to improve
the battlefi eld’s interpretive media,
especially in how this media can help
support the battlefi eld’s personal
services and education programs.
A fourth, 2-day LRIP Confi rmation
Workshop was held in August 2010 to
re-address the LRIP approach with a
stronger view to incorporating African
American perspectives.
The recommendations from the
October and November 2007
workshops were incorporated into
those of the August 2010 Workshop,
and are summarized on the following
pages along with a strategy to
accomplish them over the next 10 years.
Implementation
Actions, divided into annual,
achievable steps are reproduced in the
Annual Implementation Plan (AIP)….
(DO-6, page 6)
The measure of success of any plan is
the extent to which it is implemented.
Initial implementation strategies need to
be both realistic and fl exible. Because
funding opportunities and priorities
often change, park managers may need
to adjust implementation strategies to
adapt to changing conditions.
The battlefi eld’s interpretive staff , key
partners, and the Southeast Region’s
Chief of Interpretation should
meet each year to draft an Annual
Implementation Plan (AIP) for each
new fi scal year based on funding
opportunities and coordination with
other projects.