Robert Williams

For many decades, urban society and its “illusion of preservation” has continued to obstruct and suppress rural communities and their use of the land and natural resources. We are seeing the elimination of a cultural heritage in our time. In southern New Jersey by government legislation, 1.2 million acres of the landscape has been reserved and protected in what is designated the Pinelands National Reserve. This reserve includes all aspects of the land ownership, both public and private. Among the primary reasons for designating the Pine Barrens for protection were to perpetuate and sustain the unique ecological natural heritage and the indigenous local cultural heritage. The essential need to sustain and conserve the ecological integrity of the land and the natural systems it supports is understandable. Urban policy makers understand little about the need to conserve cultural heritage, which includes tangible and intangible heritage assets, that the local people have inherited from past generations.