Tomales Bay Environmental History/Historic Resource Study

Project ID: J9W88030014

Federal Agency: National Park Service

Partner Institution: University of Washington

Fiscal Year: 2003

Initial Funding: $8,005

Total Funding: $40,005

Project Type: Research

Project Disciplines: Cultural

National Park: Point Reyes National Seashore

Principal Investigator: Nash, Linda

Agreement Technical Representative: Louter, David

Abstract: This project will combine the traditional approach of a historic resource study, which tends to focus on the human histories of parks and their built environments, with the newer approach of environmental history, which studies the changing relationship between people and nature through time. The study will consider the interactions between humans and the environment of Tomales Bay at Point Reyes National Seashore from the prehistoric period to the present. The goal of this project is to produce a historical narrative, organized by themes or eras, that places nature at the center of the story. In doing so it aims to bring a historical perspective to environmental change at Tomales Bay, provide the context for understanding the physical resources associated with that history as well as for the condition of park ecosystems.