Karen,

I used a cultural landscape approach to evaluate the historical significance
of the Coronado Railroad, which ran around San Diego Bay in the 1880s. Much of
the track is ripped up now, so the issue is archaeological. The opposition
(lawyers hired by developers) argued that the track lacks integrity, but I
argued that industrial archaeology features set in cultural landscapes always
suffer integrity loss. The cultural landscape included marshlands, agricultural
fields, salt ponds, a former gunpowder plant, a former aircraft plant, and
various warehouse sites around the track route. The site got landmarked, but over
turned by the pro-developer City Council. My clients sued and it is pending in
court at this time.

The critics of cultural landscape in this railroad case stated that I needed
to use legal boundaries for the landscape. I contended that there were no
legal boundaries in the past, so why should we be bound by them now.

I hope I have not wasted your time.

Ron May
Legacy 106, Inc.
www.legacy106.com