Aesthetics and management: bridging the gap

Abstract

It is possible to identify two relatively independent and distinct perspectives on what is valuable in the visual landscape. On the one hand there is the procedure for assessing visual quality which is utilized in one form or another by the various American land management agencies. An alternative approach is represented by the scholarly study of landscape aesthetics, a perspective which has its roots in the early 1700's in English literature, and has continued and evolved into its modern form. Inherent in this aesthetic study is the belief that the aesthetic qualities of landscapes are related to the informational and functional needs of humans. There is considerable value in using this traditional approach as a basis for improving current visual asessment processes. In order for this to occur, however, it must be possible to translate the rich information provided by the traditional approach into a mapped informational form that is compatible with the current visual assessment and management techniques. The effort to develop such a translation has focused on aspects of landform and land cover that might indicate the presence of such conceptual visual properties of the landscape as coherence, legibility and mystery. Initial steps to apply and test this translation have been taken, with promising results. The methodology used in these initial studies is relatively straightforward and widely applicable. Given the importance of the challenge and the encouragement of the preliminary results, it is hoped that others concerned with the fate of the landscape will be stimulated to apply these methods to their own landscape contexts.