ANDSCAPE L INES

INTRODUCTION

A project agreement for a Cultural Landscape Report (CLR)

establishes consensus from two or more individuals, offices, or

organizations for project work to be completed. The term, project

agreement, is used in this text to define the specific issues, tasks,

management objectives, and anticipated products involved in a

CLR project.

Note that for work involving individuals or offices within the

National Park Service (NPS), the term “task directive” describes a

project agreement. For contracts outside the NPS, a project agreement is often called a “scope of work.” CONTENT OF A PROJECT AGREEMENT

A CLR project agreement is developed to meet management objectives and answer specific management questions. The project agreement addresses Part I of a CLR, titled “Site History, Existing Conditions, and Analysis and Evaluation,” and Part 2, “Treatment.” The

project agreement may outline the scope of Part I, Part 2, or both

parts. (See Figure 1.)

The scope of a project agreement is based on the management

objectives, which may require information on site history, existing

conditions, and the analysis and evaluation of a landscape (excluding

treatment). If park management has adequate information from

former research, management objectives for a CLR may be concerned only with treatment. This information is reflected in the

project agreement.

1

Project Agreement
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Figure 1. The project agreement for Volume 1 of the CLR for Vanderbilt Mansion involved the preparation of only Part I, titled “Site

History, Existing Conditions, and Analysis and Evaluation.” Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site. (NPS, c. 1930s)

Regardless of whether a CLR project agreement

addresses Part I, Part 2, or both, all project agreements for a CLR should include the following:

• description of the study site, site boundaries,

and site context

• description of the project’s purpose and its

relationship to management objectives

• description of the project scope, including

level of investigation

• list and description of the tasks to be completed

• list identifying the office and staff responsibilities

• list and description of the interim and end

products or deliverables

• schedule for completing individual tasks,

products, and payments

• statement of the project budget

A project agreement also identifies constraints and

special considerations, compliance requirements,

information and data gathering needs, and coordination requirements, including the desired period

for public comment if appropriate.

PREPARATION OF A

PROJECT AGREEMENT

A project agreement is the first step in clarifying

management objectives and specific tasks for a

CLR. Preparing an agreement involves conducting
P R O J E C T A G R E E M E N T 3

preliminary research and compiling background

information about the cultural landscape. This task

may require a team of individuals with different

backgrounds and expertise. A historical landscape

architect usually leads the project team. The

historical landscape architect receives support

from park staff and other professionals in allied

disciplines, such as history, historic architecture,

natural resources, archeology, cultural anthropology, interpretation, and park maintenance.

The time required to prepare a project agreement varies from project to project. In some

cases, a short site visit allows enough time to

review park files, meet with park staff, and conduct

preliminary site reconnaissance. Preparing a project

agreement requires more time when the site is

large and specific issues are complex, or the site

has a national level of significance with numerous

interest groups involved.

Preparing a CLR project agreement involves

three primary steps: 1) project initiation,

2) preliminary research, and 3) site visit. These

steps are described in the following sections.

Project Initiation

To develop a CLR project agreement, park and

technical staff meet to define the purpose, management objectives, and key issues to be addressed. Management’s information needs and

specific questions should be addressed. Information about the availability of historical materials,

planning documents, base maps, and specific site

data in park collections is collected during the

meeting. Other pertinent repositories, contacts,

and public interest groups are also noted, along

with information about current maintenance

practices and park operations. Maintenance

information may influence project logistics, such as

scheduling, site access, and field inventory.

Preliminary Research

The second step in developing a project agreement involves a preliminary review of historical

materials related to the site. Extensive information may be found in park files and in a variety

of cultural and natural resources databases,

such as the Cultural Landscapes Inventory, the

List of Classified Structures, the Cultural Sites

Inventory, natural resource inventories, and

geographical information system databases.

When reviewing historic materials, it is necessary to determine whether additional research

is required to fully address the management

objectives for the project. This step is critical

for providing fundamental background information and clarifying what is known about the

landscape and what additional information is

needed. It is important to recognize that this

research is quantitative but not extensive;

research is conducted to identify and evaluate

the adequacy of primary and secondary sources

and collections, and to gather preliminary site

information, ensuring the project agreement’s

accuracy and completeness.

Site Visit

The final step in preparing a project agreement

is a site visit. The site visit provides a preliminary assessment of the landscape characteristics
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and associated features, as well as the physical

condition of the landscape. The site visit may take

the form of a windshield survey or walk-through.

It is preferable to be accompanied by someone

who is knowledgeable about the site and the

salient issues to be addressed in the CLR. The

purpose of the visit is to understand management

issues and existing conditions so that the project

agreement can accurately reflect the required

level of effort.

SUMMARY

Although a project agreement directs and organizes

the scope and content of a CLR, the agreement is

not a static document. Because the research to

prepare an agreement is preliminary, it is not

uncommon that additional information or material

becomes available during the course of a project,

influencing or altering the original assumptions. In

this case, it may be appropriate for park and

technical staff to amend the original project agreement to respond to the new information. (See A

Guide to Cultural Landscape Reports: Appendices, “Appendix J: Project Agreements.”)

Identify the information

that already exists

Identify the information

that needs to be added

Determine level of

investigation for the

historical research

Project

Initiation

Meeting between park

and technical staff

Site Visit

Preliminary assessment

of landscape characteristics and associated

features and conditions

List of specific issues

and questions to be

addressed by CLR

Understand existing

conditions in relation

to management issues

Determine level of

investigation for the

existing conditions

investigation

PROCESS FOR PREPARING A PROJECT AGREEMENT

Preliminary

Research

Review of park files

and archives

Activity

Outcome

Product Project

Agreement

for CLR

The mission of the Department of the Interior is to protect

and provide access to our Nation’s natural and cultural

heritage and honor our trust responsibilities to tribes.

U.S. Department of the Interior

National Park Service

Cultural Resources

Park Historic Structures & Cultural Landscapes