HALS
NOW / BSLA
H i s t o ric A mer ican L ands cap e s Sur vey
documents and makes records
In recent decades, the concept of historic preservation
available to the public.
has grown beyond protecting a single building or urban
district to include larger landscapes that have regional and
Historic landscapes vary in size from
national significance. In response to this growing interest,
small gardens to several thousand-acre
the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA)
national parks. In character they range
worked with the National Park Service (NPS) to create a
from designed to vernacular, rural to
national program. In October 2000, NPS established the
urban, and
Historic American Landscapes
t h e B SLA H A LS C ommi t t ee agricultural
Survey (HALS) to document
to industrial
historic landscapes in the US (and
h a s submi t t ed th e sh or t
spaces.
its territories) to serve as tangible
evidence of our nation’s heritage
fo rm for M oun t G reyloc k. Vegetable
patches,
and development.
estate gardens, cemeteries, farms,
quarries, nuclear test sites, suburbs,
In early 2001, ASLA, NPS, and the Library of Congress
and abandoned settlements all may be
created a framework of cooperation. In 2010, they signed
considered historic landscapes. Like its
a new Tripartite Agreement making HALS a permanent
sister programs, the Historic American
federal program. NPS administers the planning and
Buildings Survey and the Historic
operation of HALS, standardizes formats and develops
American Engineering Record,
guidelines for recording landscapes, and catalogs and/
HALS produces written and graphic
or publishes the information. ASLA provides professional
records of interest to educators, land
guidance and technical advice for the program through
managers, and preservation planners,
its Historic Preservation Professional Practice Network.
as well as the general public.
The Library of Congress accepts and preserves HALS
Greenfield Community College
S HA D L EY A S S O C IAT E S
LA N D S CA P E A R C H IT E CT S / S IT E P LA N N I N G C O N S U LTA NT S
BSA Honor Award for Accessible Design in Public Architecture,
Architecture by Gensler
Robert Benson Photography
Boston Society of Landscape Architects Fieldbook
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