Landscape Aesthetics (AH 701-i) - Visual Absorption Capability (Appendix C)

"Visual absorption capability is a classification system used to indicate the relative ability of any landscape to accept human alteration without loss of landscape character or scenic condition." [Apendix C Purpose] [AH 701 pages 131-140]

"High quality scenery, especially scenery with natural-appearing landscapes, enhances peoples lives and benefits society. The Scenery Management System [SMS] presents a vocabulary for managing scenery and a systematic approach for determining the relative value and importance of scenery in a national forest. This handbook was written for national forest resource managers, landscape architects, and others interested in landscape aesthetics and scenery. Both students and the general public, our "constituents," will benefit from the straightforward approach of [this] system to a complex art and science. Ecosystems provide the environmental context for this scenery management system. The system is to be used in the context of ecosystem management to inventory and analyze scenery in a national forest, to assist in establishment of overall resource goals and objectives, to monitor the scenic  resource, and to ensure high-quality scenery for future generations." [AH 701 Abstract]

Attachments and Links

Click to open, view, print and/or save this portion of the handbook as a PDF file