The Mt. Mitchell scenery assessment

Abstract

The scenery assessment process for the Mt. Mitchell Suitability/Feasibility Study was conducted by National Park Service personnel and consultants in 1977-78. It combined approaches designed by Lewis (1962) and Jones (1976) in a comparative evaluation of the scenery of two large landscapes in the Appalachian physiographic province. The purpose of this study was to determine the degree to which parts or all of the +245,000 acre study site surrounding Mt. Mitchell, North Carolina, satisfied national significance, natural area criteria for designation as a new national park. The design challenge required that the scenery assessment process be comprehensive, believable, efficient, and that it aid the boundary definition phase of the study.

Parent Publication

• Proceedings of our national landscape: a conference on applied techniques for analysis and management of the visual resource [Incline Village, Nev., April 23-25, 1979]

Citation

Scheele, Robert F.; Johnson, Gary W. 1979. The Mt. Mitchell scenery assessment. In: Elsner, Gary H., and Richard C. Smardon, technical coordinators. 1979. Proceedings of our national landscape: a conference on applied techniques for analysis and management of the visual resource [Incline Village, Nev., April 23-25, 1979]. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-35. Berkeley, CA. Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Exp. Stn., Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture: p. 129-135