Developed as part of the Heritage Landscape Inventory program, the Atlas is an interactive, web-based mapping tool that allows for both landscape-specific analysis and regional and statewide comparisons.
Use the Heritage Landscape Atlas to:
- View priority heritage landscapes in participating communities.
- Relate priority landscapes to protected open space, water resources and habitats.
- Identify connections between landscapes and opportunities for protection efforts across municipal boundaries.
- Track local actions to protect heritage landscapes.
- Analyze landscape types and frequencies on a regional and statewide basis, and identify trends.
The Heritage Landscape Atlas also provides local and regional contacts, and links to HLI Reconnaissance Reports which should be consulted for information pertaining to other landscapes identified through the program.
The Atlas is driven by large databases of information on communities and landscapes collected between 2001 and 2009 through DCR’s Heritage Landscape Inventory (HLI) Program. The HLI engaged communities to identify heritage landscapes – special places that help define the character of a community and reflect its past – and to plan for their protection, amassing data on historic landscapes in 109 cities and towns across the Commonwealth. The primary products of the Program were Reconnaissance Reports which include documentation and recommendations, and simple maps, and are available in hard copy and on the HLI website.
Recognizing the need to improve access to the inventory data to empower citizens toward action, DCR developed the Heritage Landscape Atlas.
NOTE: The data in the Heritage Landscape Atlas is intended for comparative analysis and/or planning use only and should not be used for regulatory purposes. Boundaries of the high priority heritage landscapes are approximate and do not reflect or impose any legal protection status nor trigger any regulatory review.