People's intense experiences with the land have enhanced the cultural value of rural areas. Most rural landscapes are "constructed"—that is, they show a many-layered history of human intervention. Cultural conservation holds an important place in rural policy because it reinforces the sensory experience of the rural landscape and strengthens landscape's role as a symbol of stability. Rural regions have always been about land. American cultural history suggests that the endear-ng values of rural regions derive from intense experiences with the physical and spatial properties of landscapes. Taken together, the land forms, topography, drainage, and plants constitute a powerful memory of place.
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