The landscape of the world is a library of human endeavor. How are we to know ourselves if we do not know how to read the land?
-Damon Farrugut

Editor’s Note
Welcome to the 36th edition of The Lay of the Land, the annual newsletter of the Center for Land Use Interpretation. While some previous issues have had a regional structure, reflecting the far-flung field offices and study areas of the CLUI, this issue is arranged thematically, around some of the land use categories and program areas explored by the Center. These thematic headings are created to help us organize the infinity of information about the contemporary landscape of America. They also exist to emphasize what we feel are some of the most curious and compelling issues facing us today, as a nation. We hope you enjoy this newsletter, which we convey with continued amazement at the ways that we, collectively, engrave our inscription on the ground, by intent or incident, with awareness and without. Above all, we are grateful for you, dear reader, for coming with us on this journey of observation, discovery, and realization.
Thanks for being there!