HISTORY OF THE ZION LODGE LANDSCAPE, ZION NATIONAL PARK

Purpose:

To acquire, organize, and analyze historical data (1) to support preparation of Cultural Landscape Inventory and subsequent Cultural Landscape Report (CLR) and (2) to guide decisions by the National Park Service (NPS) in maintaining the historic character of the Lodge while mitigating problems related to water use, irrigation practices, impacts to historic cabins, and maintenance of turf, trees, and other plantings.

Goal:

To write the first comprehensive history and analysis of the Zion Lodge landscape by tracing its evolution from the 19th century pre-Mormon era through the latest design changes in 2001.

Objectives:

1. To use research methods borrowed from the field of public history to construct an annotated chronology outlining notable periods of landscape development of the Lodge landscape by analyzing primary source materials relating to design and construction of the Lodge and its landscape; reviewing historic maps, photographs, oral history transcripts, site records, and written records; and reviewing secondary source materials relating to the Zion Lodge historic district, including natural and cultural resource documents.

1. To examine how National Park Service management decisions reflecting conservation, preservation, and ecologic values have influenced landscape design since Zion National Park was created in 1919.

1. To develop an historic context (tourism in the American West) for assessing the Lodge area’s potential for designation as a cultural landscape.

1. To provide a pictorial and graphic catalog of historic landscape features to guide future efforts to preserve and restore the historic character of the Lodge area.

Notable aspects:

1. For the first time, nearly 100 years’ of site plans, design drawings, photographs, and report data have been organized into a single comprehensive reference book, currently in use by NPS archaeologists, botanists, ecologists, and landscape architects to redesign the Lodge-area landscape.

•  The project has demonstrated the added value that landscape architects cross-     trained in public history can contribute to resolution of practical problems in designing and managing historic and cultural landscapes.