Landscape surveys in Massachusetts can trace their roots back to 1929, when Charles W. Eliot, II working with the Governor’s Committee on Needs and Uses of Open Space, identified key areas for open space acquisition throughout the state. Only two types of landscapes were identified – those areas that were proposed open spaces and areas within which state forests should be acquired. This identification helped guide the Commonwealth and municipalities with some initial land acquisition guidance.

Comprehensive efforts to identify significant landscapes in Massachusetts began in earnest in 1933, when The Trustees of Reservations, then known as the Trustees of Public Reservations, joined the American Society of Landscape Architects in sponsoring a statewide Landscape Survey. For the purposes of this survey, a set of categorical landscape types were chosen as “…kinds of Massachusetts scenery that are believed to have special character of outstanding value…”. These categories were: ocean beaches and dunes; moor and seashore upland; scenic highway roadsides; mountains, valleys and gorges; woodland; flooded lands in the coastal plain; and smaller areas of scenic or historical interests, which was broken down into the historical, the curious and unusual, and the restful. A number of places were identified in each category throughout the state, and best use recommendations for preservation of these landscapes were made. Acting on the identifications and recommendations made through the 1933 Massachusetts Landscape Survey, The Trustees, DCR (then known as the Department of Conservation) and other entities subsequently acquired many of these places for their protection and public enjoyment.

In 1980, the challenge of again unifying the direction with which different interest groups should be approaching land conservation was raised, and this time DCR (then known as the Department of Environmental Management) took up the gauntlet, undertaking a statewide inventory of scenic landscapes. Adapting assessments utilized by the US Forest Service and the Countryside Commission of Scotland, the consulting team created a methodology that relied on three classifications of scenic quality: “distinctive”, “noteworthy”, and “common”. Dividing the state into six physiographic regions and staying away from any densely settled areas, landscapes were evaluated based upon a set of scenic feature guidelines that were developed for each classification for each region. The assessment resulted in a well-received (and still heavily utilized) report in 1982 that was accompanied by a set of USGS maps used to record these scenic landscapes.

Only two large-scale, statewide cultural landscape survey efforts have since been undertaken, both of them thematically based. These are the 1982 survey of public landscapes designed by the Olmsted firm, sponsored by the Massachusetts Association for Olmsted Parks and the Massachusetts Historical Commission, and the 1995 survey of Civilian Conservation Corps resources sponsored by DCR (then known as DEM). Both of these initiatives started as pilot projects that were then implemented statewide and resulted in reports presenting the results.
By the mid 1990s, it became clear that in order to be able to protect community character and promote an integrated planning approach, further identification of the overall cultural landscape of Massachusetts needed to be undertaken. Based upon a proposal prepared in 1997 by The Trustees of Reservations and PreservatiON MASS (then known as Historic Massachusetts, Inc.), DCR was able to secure funding through the legislature to develop the Heritage Landscape Inventory Program.