Cultural Landscape Management - Australian Alps National Parks

differentdegrees ofsignificance.In many cases,thepractices and technologies associated with anactivityarelikelyto differgreatlybetw een historicperiods.In others,however,practices andtechnologies mayhave remained intact.Thereareseveral different schemes setingoutthemain historicthemes fortheAlps.Forourpurposes,themostimportantis thatused forthe1991JindabyneSymposium on theCultural­Heritage oftheAustralian Alps (Scougall 1991).Thesearethethemes thatwill beused in theseGuidelines.Theyare:• Aboriginal occupation and interaction with theenvironmentpriorto European contact• Exploration and survey• Pastoralism­• Mining• Loggingand silviculture• W aterharvesting• Recreation and tourism• Communication and transpor t• Conservation and parkmanagement.Notethatthere areprocesses and agents ofenvironmental changeshapingthelandscapethatoperateacross them es.Fire,forinstance,has astronginfluenceon all oftheabovethemes.In particular,itis apracticestronglyassociatedwith Aboriginal occupation and pastoralism,and helps generatetheAboriginal and pastoral cultural landscapes with which wearefamiliar.On amoregeneral level,notethattheAustralian HeritageCommission and state heritageagencies areworkingtowards asetofrecommended Principal Australian HistoricThemes.Although thesewill notbeused in theseGuidelines,itis likelythattheywill onedaybeapplied as 'super-categories',encompassingexistingAlps themes.Theyarealso useful in linkingthelocal and regional Alps events with nationalthem es.Theyaredescribed as follows:­• Tracingtheevolution ofthecontinent's special environments• Peoplingthecontinent• Developing local, regional and national economies• Building settlements,towns and cities• W orking• Educating• Governing• Developingcultural institutions and ways oflife• Markingthephases oflifeNotethatregional,stateand national themes maybeexpressed in Alps landscapes,justas often astheparticularAlps themes given above.National ParkServicehistoryand heritagesections mayhaveasetofthemes thatapplyin each stateorterritory.13