**INTRODUCTION**

**TERMS AND CONCEPTS USED IN MANAGEMENT POLICIES**

A list of five key terms and concepts particularly relevant to managing the national parks is provided below. These key terms and concepts are important to understanding NPS management policies and principles. Definitions of additional terms may be obtained from the Glossary. Statutory definitions can be accessed on-line, e.g., at <http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/>.

**Conserve, Preserve, Protect**

The words “conserve,” “preserve,” and “protect” are used frequently throughout these *Management Policies*. They are words that, in some contexts, carry distinctly different meanings. However, in the context of these *Management Policies*, it is not appropriate to create or imply highly prescribed distinctions between them. This is because there are many statutes applicable to the parks, and some of them use the term “conserve,” some use “preserve,” some use “protect,” and some even use a combination of these terms. It is clear from the legislative history of these statutes, and from case law, that each of these words reflects the high standard of care for park resources that Congress has required of the Service from its beginning. For this reason, these words are used interchangeably, except where their application is tied to a quotation or close paraphrase of a statute. The choice of any one of these words within these policies is not intended to, and should not be construed to, imply a greater or lesser restriction on opportunities for visitor enjoyment or level of care for park resources and values.   

**Impairment**

Impairment means a significant impact that, in the professional judgment of the responsible NPS manager, would harm the integrity of park resources or values, including the opportunity that otherwise would be present for the enjoyment of those resources or values, in violation of the NPS Organic Act.

**Appropriate Use**

As used in these *Management Policies*, an “appropriate use” is a use that is suitable, proper, or fitting for a particular park, or to a particular location within a park. What is appropriate may vary from one park to another, and from one location to another within a park.

In its role as steward of park resources, the Park Service must ensure that all park uses are appropriate and do not cause unacceptable impacts on park resources and values. When proposed park uses and the protection of park resources come into conflict, park managers are obligated to ensure that the resources and values for which the park was created are not diminished. To determine appropriateness, the park manager must rely on the Organic Act, the park’s enabling legislation, NPS regulations, NPS *Management Policies*, director’s orders, the park’s general management plan, and other relevant guidance and planning documents.

The concept of appropriate use is especially important with regard to visitor enjoyment, because the Park Service is required by the Organic Act to provide for the enjoyment of park resources and values. As with other park uses, a form of visitor enjoyment that is appropriate in one park may be inappropriate in another.

The Park Service will always welcome activities that are appropriate to the parks. In evaluating the appropriateness of an activity, NPS planning and decision-making procedures will be used to engage the public and use the best scientific information available. The criteria for determining whether a particular use is appropriate in a park are set forth in section 1.4.3. In applying the criteria, the responsible NPS manager will use good judgment to ensure that uses will not

· cause an “unacceptable impact”

· be inconsistent with the park purposes or values

· unreasonably interfere with park programs or activities

· disrupt the operations of park concessions or contractors

· create an unsafe or unhealthful environment for visitors or employees

· result in significant conflict with other appropriate uses

· diminish opportunities for current or future generations to enjoy park resources or values

Subject to the above criteria, appropriate uses may include

· uses that have occurred historically in a park when the type and/or the level of impact has not increased significantly,

· uses that may represent new technology, or

· uses whose impacts can be successfully mitigated or eliminated through

· visitor education,

· temporal, spatial, or numerical limitations on the use,

· the application of best available technology, or 

· the application of adaptive management techniques.

**Unacceptable Impacts**

Relevant to the concept of “appropriate and inappropriate use” is the concept of “acceptable and unacceptable impacts.” In determining whether a proposed park use is appropriate or inappropriate, there are several factors that a manager must consider. But the key factor is whether the associated impacts on park resources and values are “acceptable.” With virtually every form of visitor use and enjoyment there will be at least some degree of impact on park resources or values, but that does not mean a proposed use must or should be disallowed. The Park Service may balance resource conservation and visitor enjoyment in managing parks while ensuring that its management actions leave the resources and values unimpaired. This means that the Service has discretion in allowing activities that may cause impacts as long as the activities do not lead to impairment. For the purposes of implementing this important management concept, unacceptable impacts that would keep a use from being “appropriate” are impacts that would

· be inconsistent with the park’s purposes or values,

· individually or cumulatively degrade resource conditions so as to preclude future generations from enjoying the resource in as good or better condition,

· individually or cumulatively create an unsafe or unhealthful environment for other visitors or employees, or

· unreasonably interfere with

· existing appropriate park uses,

· NPS interpretive, visitor service, administrative, or other activities,

· NPS concessioner or contractor operations or services, or

· the attainment of a park’s desired conditions as identified through the park’s planning process.

As part of its standard decision-making process, the Service will engage the public and use the best scientific information available in evaluating whether impacts from an activity would be acceptable.  

**Third-party Enforceability**

The policies contained in this document are intended only to improve the internal management of the Park Service, and are not intended to, and do not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or equity by a party against the United States, its departments, agencies, instrumentalities or entities, its officers or employees, or any other person.

**Law, Policy, and Other Guidance**

This volume is the basic Servicewide policy document of the National Park Service. Adherence to policy is mandatory unless specifically waived or modified by the Secretary, the Assistant Secretary, or the Director. 

In carrying out their responsibilities under the 1916 National Park Service  Organic Act and other pertinent statutes, all NPS officials and employees must be knowledgeable about the laws, regulations, and policies that pertain to their work. The property clause of the U. S. Constitution, which is the supreme law of the United States, gives Congress the authority to develop laws governing the management of the national park system. The property clause specifically directs that “The Congress will have the Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States” (article IV, section 3). Once laws are enacted, authority for interpreting and implementing them is delegated to appropriate levels of government. In carrying out this function, the National Park Service, like other federal agencies, develops policy to interpret the ambiguities of the law and to fill in the details left unaddressed by Congress in the statutes. 

**Hierarchy of Authorities**

The management of the national park system and NPS programs is guided by the Constitution, public laws, treaties, proclamations, executive orders, regulations, and directives of the Secretary of the Interior and the Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks. NPS policy must be consistent with these higher authorities, and with appropriate delegations of authority. Many of the public laws and other guidance affecting the various facets of NPS administration and management are cited for reference purposes throughout these *Management Policies*. Other laws, regulations, and policies related to the administration of federal programs, although not cited, may also apply. For example, many, but not all, of the legislative requirements of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) are cited at different places throughout these *Management Policies*. The additional legislative requirements of ANILCA, although not cited, must also be considered in the interpretation and application of these policies, as must all other applicable legislative requirements. It is especially important that superintendents and other park staff review their park’s enabling legislation to determine whether it contains explicit guidance that would prevail over Servicewide policy. 

**Policy Development**

Policy sets the framework and provides direction for all management decisions. This direction may be general or specific; it may prescribe the process through which decisions are made, how an action is to be accomplished, or the results to be achieved. Policy initiatives may originate as a sudden, urgent response to an unanticipated problem or issue, or through a slow, evolutionary process as the Service gains increased experience or insight regarding a problem or issue. Sometimes the initiative does not originate within the Service, but rather with persons or organizations outside the Service who have a strong interest in how the Service manages the parks. However, NPS policy is usually developed through a concerted workgroup and consensus-building team effort involving extensive field review, consultation with NPS senior managers, and review and comment by affected parties and the general public. 

All policy must be articulated in writing and must be approved by an NPS official who has been delegated authority to issue the policy. Policy must be published or otherwise made available to the public—particularly those whom it affects—and those who must implement it in the Washington office, regional offices, and parks. Unwritten or informal “policy,” and various understandings of NPS traditional practices, will not be recognized as official policy. 

**Compliance and Accountability**

The policies contained within this document are intended only to improve the internal management of the National Park Service, and are not intended to, and do not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or equity by a party against the United States, its departments, agencies, instrumentalities or entities, its officers or employees, or any other person.

Servicewide policy is articulated by the Director of the National Park Service. NPS employees must follow these policies unless specifically waived or modified in writing by the Secretary, the Assistant Secretary, or the Director. Waivers and modifications will be considered on a case-by-case basis, and previous waivers or modifications will not necessarily be regarded as precedents for future waivers or modifications. Park superintendents will be held accountable for their, and their staff’s, adherence to Servicewide policy. A request for a waiver or modification of policy must include a written justification and be submitted to the Director through the Office of Policy, which will coordinate with appropriate program offices. 

**The Directives System**

This volume of NPS *Management Policies* is the basic Servicewide policy document of the National Park Service, superseding the 2001 edition. It is the highest of three levels of guidance documents in the NPS Directives System. The Directives System is designed to provide NPS management and staff with clear and continuously updated information on NPS policy and required and/or recommended actions, as well as any other information that will help them manage parks and programs effectively.

Management Policies will be revised at appropriate intervals to consolidate Servicewide policy decisions, or to respond to new laws and technologies, new understandings of park resources and the factors that affect them, or changes in American society. Interim updates or amendments may be accomplished through Director’s Orders (the second level of the Directives System), which also serve as a vehicle to clarify or supplement the *Management Policies* to meet the needs of NPS managers. Any previously dated statement of policy not consistent with these *Management Policies*, or with a Director’s Order that updates, amends, or clarifies policy, is to be disregarded.

Under the Directives System, the most detailed and comprehensive guidance on implementing Servicewide policy is found in “level 3” documents, which are usually in the form of handbooks or reference manuals issued by associate directors. These documents provide NPS field employees with a compilation of legal references, operating policies, standards, procedures, general information, recommendations, and examples to assist them in carrying out *Management Policies* and Director’s Orders. Level 3 documents may not impose any new Servicewide requirements unless the Director has specifically authorized them to do so, but may reiterate or compile requirements (for example, laws, regulations, and policies) that have been imposed by higher authorities.

The Directives System replaces the guidelines, special directives, and staff directives issued under the former system. Some Director’s Orders planned for completion were not yet approved when this edition of *Management Policies* was published. Anyone who needs additional information about a Director’s Order that has not yet been approved should contact the NPS program manager responsible for the particular subject matter, or the Office of Policy in Washington, DC. (See Appendix C for a listing of Director’s Orders.) 

**Other Sources of Guidance**

Instructions, guidance, and directives of regional or otherwise limited application supplementary to, and in conformance with, Servicewide policies may be issued by regional directors or associate directors within formal delegations of authority. Superintendents may issue, within formal delegations of authority, park-specific instructions, procedures, directives, and other supplementary guidance (such as hours of operation or dates for seasonal openings), provided the guidance does not conflict with Servicewide policy. 

**National Park Service Program Policies**

This volume addresses only those policies applicable to management of the national park system. A second volume—to be added at a later date—will address policies applicable to NPS-administered programs that serve the conservation and recreation needs of the nation, but are not directly related to the national park system. Examples include the National Register of Historic Places; the Land and Water Conservation Fund Grants Program; the Historic American Buildings Survey; the American Battlefield Protection Program; the National Maritime Heritage Grants Program; the Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program; and the Tribal Heritage Preservation Grants Program.

�  The terms “National Park Service,” “Park Service,” “Service,” and “NPS” are used interchangeably in this document.