Land Use Planning & Zoning
Heritage Landscape Inventory
North Leverett Sawmill Priority Heritage Landscape
Project Overview
The purpose of the Heritage Landscape Inventory program is to increase awareness about heritage landscapes and provide technical assistance towards their preservation. Through local public meetings, residents have an opportunity to come together and identify those heritage landscapes that make their community unique. Heritage Landscapes are those special places that help define the character of a community. These geographic areas contain both natural and cultural resources and reflect human interaction with the natural resources of an area. Heritage landscapes come in many forms, such as a barn and surrounding fields, an historic cemetery, or an industrial mill corridor.
Once residents have identified and prioritized heritage landscapes at local meetings, FRCOG Planning staff conduct research and fieldwork at Priority Heritage Landscape sites, and complete a report for each community with recommendations and a map of the Priority Heritage Landscapes. DCR is also developing an online, interactive Atlas of all Heritage Landscapes that have been identified by the 96 communities across the state that have participated in this program to date.
Current Activities
The Franklin Regional Council of Governments is currently preparing a Heritage Landscape Inventory Report for each participating community. Each town has had a community meeting to identify and prioritize Heritage Landscapes. Examples of Heritage Landscapes include historic town centers, agricultural districts and river corridors that supported past industrial uses. Field work and research is underway for each of the Priority Heritage Landscapes identified by the five communities in Franklin County.
Future Plans
The Franklin Regional Council of Governments will complete a Heritage Landscape Inventory Report for each community participating in the program by July 2009. In addition, in the Spring of 2009 we will be sponsoring a workshop on topics of common concern identified by communities participating in the program in collaboration with the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission.
This page was last updated on 03/23/2009 .