National Landscape Conservation System: Protecting National Monuments and America's Hidden Treasures

January 6, 2009

The National Landscape Conservation System is innovative because it:

• emphasizes the protection of large and contiguous “landscapes” that are needed to safeguard habitat for plants and animals and preserve historic, cultural, and archeological sites;
• is intended to preserve the remote and wild character of these landscapes;
• is intended to serve as an outdoor laboratory where current and future generations can study prehistoric life and environments, human history, and the application of scientific knowledge to improving land management.