NATIONAL PARK SERVICE ADMINISTRATIVE POLICIES for the Historical Areas of the National Park System

PURPOSE

The purpose of this booklet is to state in one document the administrative policies of the National Park Service for the management of the historical areas of the National Park System. Additionally, at the beginning of each major part of the administrative policies, such as for Resources Management Policy, Master Plan Policy, Resource and Visitor Use Policy, etc., there is included a discussion of the background and philosophy on which the administrative policies are based.

Separate booklets deal with administrative policies for the management of the natural and recreational areas of the National Park System.

It is hoped that this compilation of administrative policies will contribute to better public understanding of the management programs and plans for historical areas administered by the Service, thereby promoting the knowledgeable use and inspirational benefit of the Nation's cultural heritage.

The category of historical areas includes all national historic sites, monuments, and parks established for prehistoric as well as historic values. Today there are 166 such units in the System. Their nomenclature, fixed by Congress, is varied: national park, national historical park, national monument, national military park, national memorial park, national battlefield, national battlefield park, national battlefield site, national historic site, and national memorial.

The category of natural areas comprises those national parks and national monuments of scientific significance of the National Park System whose purpose is to preserve for all time the superlative examples of our Nation's scenic beauty, wilderness, native wildlife, and indigenous plantlife.

The category of recreational areas of the National Park System includes, primarily, those types of areas prescribed in Policy Circular No. 1, dated March 26, 1963, of the Recreation Advisory Council, as follows:

* * * National Seashore, National Lakeshore, National Waterway, National Riverway, National Recreation Demonstration Areas, and similar names which embody either the physical resource base or the functional purpose to be served.

The congressional policies by which the historical areas are managed are found in the Antiquities Act of 1906, the National Park Service Act of 1916, the Historic Sites Act of 1935, the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, and the acts establishing the individual historical areas of the System. Policies stated by the Congress in these laws control in any situation in which the Congress has acted. It is the purpose of these administrative policies to implement the policies and mandates of Congress and to prescribe guidelines for the day-to-day management of the historical areas of the National Park System.

CONGRESSIONAL POLICIES

Specific policies laid down by the Congress for the management of any particular historical area of the National Park System are found in the legislation establishing the area. Of direct relevance, too, is the intent of Congress as disclosed in the hearings and reports on the legislation. In addition, the Congress has made certain pronouncements of broad policy that have special significance for the administrative policies for all historical areas.

The Antiquities Act of 1906 authorizes the President:

To declare by public proclamation, historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, and other objects of historic or scientific interest that are situated upon the lands owned or controlled by the Government of the United States to be national monuments.

The act also authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to accept the donation of private lands of historical value.

In the Act of August 25, 1916, establishing the National Park Service, the Congress provided that:

The Service thus established shall promote and regulate the use of the Federal areas known as national parks, monuments, and reservations hereinafter specified by such means and measures as conform to the fundamental purpose of the said parks, monuments, and reservations, which purpose is to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wildlife therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.

The Secretary of the Interior * * * may also grant privileges, leases and permits for the use of land for the accommodation of visitors * * *.

The Historic Sites Act of 1935, the keystone of the Federal Government's efforts in historic preservation, declares that "it is a national policy to preserve for public use historic sites, buildings and objects of national significance for the inspiration and benefit of the people of the United States."

The act also authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to carry out wide ranging historical programs beyond park boundaries and makes him responsible for providing national leadership in the field of historic preservation.

Another provision of the act established the Advisory Board on National Parks, Historic Sites, Buildings and Monuments, which has had strong influence upon the development of the National Park System.

The Wilderness Act of 1964 (P.L. 88-577) requires a study of roadless areas of 5,000 acres, or more, within the "National Park System" to determine which of these lands may be deemed suitable for inclusion by the Congress in the National Wilderness Preservation System. The Wilderness Act, itself, does not include any parklands in the National Wilderness Preservation System. Separate legislation by the Congress is required to accomplish this purpose. It is pertinent to note, however, that in the Wilderness Act the Congress expressed the following policy:

In order to assure that an increasing population, accompanied by expanding settlement and growing mechanization, does not occupy and modify all areas within the United States and its possessions, leaving no lands designated for preservation and protection in their natural condition, it is hereby declared to be the policy of the Congress to secure for the American people of present and future generations the benefits of an enduring resource of wilderness. For this purpose there is hereby established a National Wilderness Preservation System to be composed of federally owned areas designated by Congress as "wilderness areas," and these shall be administered for the use and enjoyment of the American people in such manner as will leave them unimpaired for future use and enjoyment as wilderness, and so as to provide for the protection of these areas, the preservation of their wilderness character, and for the gathering and dissemination of information regarding their use and enjoyment as wilderness * * *.

In making the Wilderness Act applicable to the National Park System, however, the Congress clearly did not intend to change the basic purpose of such areas. For example, Section 4 of the Wilderness Act provides that:

The purposes of this Act are hereby declared to be * * * supplemental to the purposes for which * * * units of the national park system are established and administered * * *. (Emphasis supplied.)

The National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, broadening and strengthening Federal responsibility in historic preservation still further, declared that it is:

* * * necessary and appropriate for the Federal Government to accelerate its historic preservation programs and activities, to give maximum encouragement to agencies and individuals undertaking preservation by private means, and to assist state and local governments and the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States to expand and accelerate their historic preservation programs and activities.

The task of the Service is, in brief:

To manage the historical areas so as to preserve and creatively present and interpret their character and composition—sites (grounds or terrain), structures, and objects;

To provide for appropriate public use, and constantly improve the quality of that use for all park visitors—the child, the family, the foreigner, as well as for the visitor with specialized interests;

To provide the facilities required by the above in a manner harmonizing with the character, preservation, and special values of each area;

To participate actively in the historic preservation movement by providing leadership and technical assistance to and working with foreign nations, State and local governments, private organizations, businesses, and individuals.

MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES

Management principles for the historical areas of the System are set forth by Secretary Udall in his memorandum of July 10, 1964 (full text in Appendix A), as follows:

Resource Management: Management shall be directed toward maintaining and where necessary restoring the historical integrity of structures, sites and objects significant to the commemoration or illustration of the historical story.

Resource Use: Visitor uses shall be those which seek fulfillment in authentic presentations of historic structures, objects and sites, and the memorialization of historic individuals or events. Visitor use of significant natural resources should be encouraged when such use can be accommodated without detriment to historical values.

Physical Developments: Physical developments shall be those necessary for achieving the management and use objectives.

The administrative policies which follow guide the Service toward the realization of these objectives.