North Cascades 

National Park Service Complex 

 Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve 

Museum Management Planning Team 

Jonathan Bayless, Park Curator 

Golden Gate National Recreation Area 

San Francisco, California 

Team Leader 

Robert Applegate, Archivist 

Nez Perce National Historical Park 

Spalding, Idaho 

Kelly Cahill, Park Curator 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex 

Marblemount, Washington 

Kirstie Haertel, Archeologist 

Pacific West Region 

Seattle, Washington 

Diane Nicholson, Special Projects Curator 

Golden Gate National Recreation Area 

San Francisco, California 

Department of the Interior 

National Park Service 

Pacific West Region 

2005 

 

North Cascades 

National Park Service Complex 

 Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve 

Museum Management Plan 

January 2005

 

Executive Summary 

The Museum Management Plan for North Cascades National Park Service 

Complex (NOCA) and Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve 

(EBLA) identifies the museum management issues facing the parks, and 

presents recommendations to address them. A team of museum 

management professionals developed this plan in full cooperation with the 

staff responsible for managing park archives, museum collections, and 

library resources. 

The museum and archival collections of the two parks differ in size and 

complexity. North Cascades collections have been developed over many 

decades and contain diverse subjects and material types. Ebey’s Landing’s 

collections are quite new and concentrate on archeological excavations. 

The construction and expansion of the Marblemount museum facility 

gives North Cascades an important role in regional and network museum 

operations, serving not only Ebey’s Landing, but also San Juan Island 

National Historical Park. As the complexity and amount of work continue 

to grow, the museum program will require increased levels of support and 

resources to meet the challenges it faces. 

North Cascades and Ebey’s Landing have many outstanding opportunities 

for the growth and use of object and archive collections to support their 

mission and serve the public. Further progress requires management 

support at the highest levels. This plan calls for a number of actions that 

are intended to remove obstacles that have stymied the effective 

management of museum resources for many years. It also brings together 

additional expertise to address some of the museum issues that have 

suffered from unintended consequences of past approaches. 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan v 
This Museum Management Plan recommends actions designed to take the 

park archives and museum resources through a developmental phase that 

will provide for the documentation, preservation, and management of 

these park-specific resources. 

Key Recommendations 

Key recommendations are listed here while more detailed action 

recommendations follow each issue section of the plan: 

• Conduct an archival survey and assessment for all park records. 

• Bring together archeologists and curators to address the potential 

research use and culling of archeological collections and protocols for 

new collecting. 

• Complete construction of the Golden West Lodge at Stehekin storage 

room and develop Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for access. 

• Begin planning and compliance for a new addition to the Marblemount 

curatorial facility. 

• Develop methods to document the acquisition process of new 

collections. 

• Dedicate time and effort to de-accession inappropriate collections. 

• Explore ways to treat the Buckner Homestead and Historic District as 

a cultural landscape and manage the historic items outside the context 

of the museum program. 

• Seek additional funding and positions to fully staff the museum 

program. Make the NOCA curator position full-time, and add network 

museum technician and archivist positions. 

vi North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
Table of Contents 

Executive Summary .......................................................................................................... v 

Key Recommendations .............................................................................................. vi 

Table of Contents.............................................................................................................vii 

List of Illustrations .....................................................................................................viii 

Introduction .......................................................................................................................9 

History of Collection Management ..................................................................................11 

Collections Philosophy....................................................................................................23 

Purpose of Museum Collections within National Parks.............................................23 

How Collections Represent a Park's Resources.......................................................24 

Determining Where to Locate Park Collections ........................................................25 

Establishing Access, Use, and Management Policies ..............................................25 

Issue A— Archives Management....................................................................................27 

Issue Statement ........................................................................................................27 

Background ...............................................................................................................27

 Recommendations....................................................................................38 

Discussion.................................................................................................................31 

Issue B— Scientific Collections.......................................................................................41 

Issue Statement ........................................................................................................41 

Background ...............................................................................................................41 

Discussion.................................................................................................................43 

Recommendations ....................................................................................................50 

Issue C— Museum Facilities...........................................................................................53 

Issue Statement ........................................................................................................53 

Background ...............................................................................................................53 

Discussion.................................................................................................................57 

Recommendations ....................................................................................................58 

Issue D—Museum Recordkeeping .................................................................................61 

Issue Statement ........................................................................................................61 

Background ...............................................................................................................61 

Discussion.................................................................................................................64 

Recommendations ....................................................................................................68 

Issue E— Buckner Homestead Cultural Resources .......................................................69 

Issue Statement ........................................................................................................69 

Background ...............................................................................................................69 

Discussion.................................................................................................................71 

Recommendations ....................................................................................................74 

Issue F—Planning, Programming, and Staffing..............................................................75 

Issue Statement ........................................................................................................75 

Background ...............................................................................................................75 

Discussion.................................................................................................................77 

Recommendations ....................................................................................................84 

Appendix A — Transfer of Resource Management Field Records to Archives - SOP....85 

Appendix B — Preparing Inactive Records for Transfer to Storage................................93 

Appendix C — Proactive Management of Archival Collections.....................................101 

Appendix D — Rethinking NPS Records Management..........................................105 

Bibliography ..................................................................................................................111 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan vii 
viii North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 

List of Illustrations 

Cover North Cascades National Park 

Inside front cover Map of North Cascades National Park Service Complex 

Figure 1, page 35 Archivist Robert Applegate in NOCA archives storage 

Figure 2, page 40 Herbarium specimen with label 

Figure 3, page 52 San Juan Island historic archeology artifacts in storage 

Figure 4, page 60 Backlog catalog storage 

Figure 5, page 68 Buckner Homestead farm vehicle 

Figure 6, page 100 Historic archeology artifacts in storage 

Inside back cover Map of Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve 

Back cover View over Ebey’s Prairie from the Ferry House 

Tables 

Table 1, page 42 Total catalog records and item counts for three parks by 

 discipline (as listed by report from ANCS+ database on 8/6/04) 

Table 2, page 54 Marblemount rooms and sizes 

Table 3, page 64 Number of cataloged records in each facility associated with 

 NOCA, EBLA, and SAJH collections 
Introduction 

The Museum Management Plan (MMP) replaces the Collection 

Management Plan (CMP) referred to in the National Park Service 

publications, Outline for Planning Requirements, DO#28: Cultural 

Resources Management, and the NPS Museum Handbook, Part I. 

The CMP process generally concentrated on the technical aspects of 

museum operations. As a holistic approach to museum management 

planning, the MMP evaluates all aspects of museum-related programs 

within a park, and makes broad recommendations to guide development of 

park-specific programs that address the park’s identified needs within the 

context of a five-year implementation plan. 

The MMP recognizes that specific directions for the technical aspects of 

archival and collection management exist within the NPS Museum 

Handbook series. It does not, therefore, duplicate that information. Instead 

the MMP places museum operations within the context of park operations 

by focusing on how various collections may be used by park staff to 

support the goals of these particular parks. This plan recognizes that there 

are many different ways in which archives and museum collections may 

be organized, linked and used within individual parks, so it provides parkspecific advice on how this may be accomplished. Where required, 

technical recommendations not covered in the NPS Museum Handbook

will appear as appendices in this plan. 

The plan was completed as a team effort with many discussions with park 

staff, although the issues were written by individual team members. The 

authors by issue are: 

Issue A: Robert Applegate 

Issue B: Kirstie Haertel 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 9 
Issue C & D: Jonathan Bayless 

Issue E & F: Diane Nicholson 

The planning team wishes to thank the staff of NOCA and EBLA for their 

cooperative and many efforts to make our visit both productive and 

enjoyable. The plan could not have been accomplished without their 

dedication and devotion to the mission of the National Park Service. 

10 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
History of 

Collection Management 

North Cascades National Park (NOCA) was created in 1968 to preserve 

the rugged beauty of the North Cascades Mountains and their jagged 

peaks, deep valleys, cascading waterfalls, and over 700 glaciers. North 

Cascades National Park Service Complex contains the heart of this 

mountainous region in three park units which are all managed as one and 

include North Cascades National Park, and Ross Lake and Lake Chelan 

national recreation areas. Each area contains wilderness and offers 

different experiences. 

1968 – 1982 

From 1968, when the North Cascades National Park Service Complex was 

established, until the early 1980s, the museum collection was managed by 

NOCA’s Division of Interpretation, and collection items were retained at 

three sites, Marblemount, Sedro Woolley, and Stehekin. A collateral duty 

position under the Division of Interpretation covered work in museum 

management. 

A herbarium was created at headquarters in Sedro Woolley through the 

efforts of volunteer botanists Ralph and Dorothy Naas. They began 

collecting and mounting specimens and by 1983, when formal collection 

accessioning and cataloging began, the park herbarium contained 

approximately 5,000 specimens. Other natural history objects, such as 

vertebrate study skins and skeletons, wet specimens and geological 

specimens, were also collected during this period. They were prepared by 

park personnel and were gradually added to the collection. By the 1980s, a 

small assortment of historical artifacts had also been collected from 

various sites. A photograph collection was established with field 

collections from U.S. Forest Service files at Marblemount Ranger Station, 

with transfers from nearby Forest Service Ranger Districts, and with 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 11 
donations from private citizens. Unfortunately, many of these early 

collections lacked any documentation of the original source or history. 

Prior to 1977, when NOCA headquarters moved to a new location in 

Sedro Woolley, active management of the collection was minimal. Items 

were stored in boxes and a few museum cabinets, which were housed in 

the lab or the interpretive specialist’s office. The herbarium received the 

most attention. After the move, the collection was consolidated into a 

dedicated space. Without professional curatorial oversight, however, this 

room became disorganized storage for non-museum materials as well. 

At the Skagit District Ranger Station in Marblemount, a collection of 

historical artifacts was assembled. They were stored in a variety of 

substandard locations, ranging from the interpreter’s office for 

photographs to an outdoor area known as the “bone yard” for mining and 

logging-related artifacts assembled from field sites. This material was not 

accessioned or cataloged. 

Historical objects comprised the Stehekin District collection. In the 1970s 

NOCA acquired lands in the valley that contained large numbers of 

potential museum objects left by the former landowners. What became 

known as the Weaver collection consisted of abandoned historic (mostly 

household) artifacts collected by park personnel from the Weaver home 

site on Weaver Point. The material was stored in boxes on the floor of the 

top story of the deteriorating Golden West Lodge. In 1976 a history 

professor from Pacific Lutheran University and a NOCA seasonal 

interpreter found and studied some Weaver family correspondence. The 

professor processed the material and developed a finding aid for it. Some 

of the material later suffered water damage from a leak in the Golden 

West Lodge roof. 

Another purchase was the Buckner Homestead property including a house, 

outbuildings, and an assortment of historic artifacts related to Buckner 

family life and the operation of the orchard throughout the first half of the 

20th century. Ownership of the artifacts was unclear for many years after 

the NPS acquired the land. In 1974 a long-term agreement between Harry 

Buckner and NOCA was reached regarding fourteen of the larger, more 

12 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
significant objects such as tractors, sprayers, and wagons. The rest of the 

material remained undefined. When Mr. Buckner died a couple of years 

later, ownership of the material came into question again. Negotiations 

with the Buckner family continued for the next twelve years. Throughout 

this period, NOCA did not designate the material as museum property 

because of the lack of clear title. Although NOCA considered the site an 

interpretive exhibit, the objects were not cared for or preserved; most of it 

was outdoors in the environment. 

The first archeological collections were generated under contract as part of 

the North Cascades Survey from 1977-1979, and from site testing at 

Newhalem for the visitor center construction project in 1989. 

1983 - 1993 

A turning point for collection management at NOCA occurred in 1983. 

Through efforts of the chief naturalist and the Pacific Northwest regional 

curator, work was started on a Scope of Collection Statement (SOCS) and 

a Collection Management Plan (CMP). The SOCS was drafted and finally 

approved in 1984. The CMP was contracted and written in 1984-85. It was 

never finally approved, although it was used as a working document for 

several years. The draft CMP proposed that three separate and 

independent collections be retained at NOCA. Headquarters in Sedro 

Woolley would hold the herbarium and natural history objects; 

Marblemount District office would hold historical collections pertinent to 

the west slope; and the Stehekin District Office would have its own 

pertinent cultural resource and natural history collections. This proposal 

was only partially implemented. Until the late 1990s, the Stehekin District 

collection remained independent from NOCA’s other museum collections. 

In 1988 the Resource Management Division took over management of the 

collections. 

Formal accession and catalog documentation began at NOCA 

headquarters in 1983. Most of these records were lost, and the objects 

were later re-cataloged. From 1985 to 1987 volunteers and temporary staff 

cataloged a large part of the herbarium, resulting in about 5,000 records. 

During this period the Automated National Catalog System (ANCS+) was 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 13 
introduced at NOCA. From 1988 through 1990, seasonal museum 

technicians were hired with Backlog Cataloging funds to complete 

cataloging of the herbarium, study skins, and wet specimens. In 1989 a 

major effort was initiated to reorganize and complete many old accessions. 

NOCA began monitoring environmental conditions with a 

hygrothermograph in the collections room in 1983. NOCA headquarters 

moved again in 1988, with collections moving to a warehouse where the 

climate was partially controlled, and conditions highly variable. Museum 

cabinets were acquired for all headquarters objects. All interleaving 

newspaper was removed from the herbarium in 1991. The preservatives of 

many wet specimens were changed from formaldehyde or Wardol to 

ethanol or Wardsafe by 1994. 

From 1988 to 1991 archeological survey and testing work by Archeologist 

Bob Mierendorf in the Ross Lake NRA produced many artifacts, which 

were housed in a remodeled room in the Ranger Warehouse in 

Marblemount. The artifacts were placed on shelves or in museum cabinets, 

and a hygrothermograph recorded that the room had few environmental 

controls. Funding for cataloging archeological collections was provided by 

the Seattle City Light and the Skagit Environmental Endowment 

Commission as part of the dam re-licensing mitigation. Housing the large 

number of artifacts (40,000) and herbarium specimens prompted 

management to look at the needs of museum collection storage. 

In 1990 funding was authorized for a new museum collection storage 

facility with environmental controls. NOCA acquired additional funding 

to enhance the facility with curatorial and cultural resource offices and 

work space. Collections and staff moved into the Marblemount Curation 

Facility (MCF) in 1994. Environmentally controlled and secure collection 

storage space totaled 600+ square feet. 

1994-1998 — Changes in Collection Management 

In 1992 a Collection Management Plan was written, and approved in 

1994, to assist park management in administering the development of the 

museum collection, and to provide specific actions to improve the 

collection over a five-year period. A term museum management technician 

14 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
was hired to prepare for the CMP and to manage the museum collection to 

NPS standards. In support of the 1994 CMP, the park in 1995 created the 

Cultural Resources Branch within the Resource Management Division. 

Two Pacific Northwest Region employees duty-assigned to NOCA were 

transferred to the park organization and became the Cultural Resource 

Branch chief and park archeologist. At this time, responsibility for 

museum management moved into the Cultural Resource Branch, and the 

museum technician position was established as a permanent, subject-tofurlough, upward-mobility journeyman position. This effort to 

professionalize and upgrade the museum technician to a museum curator 

position was accomplished by 2002. 

Historic photographs and maps were acquired from diverse sources—

former park and forest service staff, area residents, children of notable 

figures, and park supporters. 

The Buckner loan agreement of 1988 consisted of 50 objects. The rest of 

the material at the Buckner Homestead was deeded to NOCA as a gift. 

The Buckner collection continued to deteriorate in historic buildings and 

on the grounds. The Buckner Homestead Historic Landscape Plan and 

management documents were created in 1995 to serve as guidance. 

Recommended actions for museum collections have yet to be 

implemented. An object inventory was taken in 2003, and comparative 

conditions of these items were documented photographically. 

The transfer of San Juan Island NHP historic archeology collection from 

the University of Idaho to the Marblemount Curation Facility occurred in 

1995. The artifacts were unpacked and organized in the NOCA collections 

drawers and cabinets until there was no room left. The remaining artifacts 

were stored in Buckhorn boxes on top of cabinets. 

Collection Condition Surveys were completed in 1998 for NOCA by 

Diana Dicus and for SAJH in 1998 by Tamsen Fuller. The surveys 

provided needed baseline inventories of condition assessments, but little 

conservation work has resulted. 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 15 
1998-2002 — Multiple Park Management Begins 

The museum computer systems were continually evolving, as were the 

back-up media. The ANCS+ database was upgraded to a Microsoft 

Windows interface and images could be attached to records. The data 

conversion was fraught with difficulty, and quirks in the software still 

raise questions of data fidelity and quality assurance. The natural history 

species names can not be parsed into the format of the program. At this 

time about 10,000 specimens needed their scientific names updated. As 

the collections have been moved several times within the storage area 

since 1998, the location information also changed. A substantial amount of 

staff time will be needed to complete these updates, and to make the 

ANCS+ database fully functional. 

For several years, the curator-of-record for SAJH invested the majority of 

time, dollars, and effort on the SAJH prehistory archeology collection. 

Agreements were entered into, University of Washington facility 

conditions were surveyed, artifact inventory was attempted at the Burke, 

and the Burke database for ANCS+ was lost. During this time of fiscal 

belt-tightening, the recurrent theme of non-NPS institutions charging to 

house NPS museum collections arose nationwide. The SAJH prehistoric 

archeology collection at the Burke Museum Archeology Department at 

University of Washington was subject to the fee-storage review. 

While touring the Burke collection, the curator documented non-secure 

and substandard facility conditions at the UW Burke Museum Archeology 

Department and Archeology Department storage located in Kane Hall. 

Environmental deficiencies and overcrowding of artifacts were observed 

in both building basements Upon negotiation between the NPS and the 

Burke Museum, prehistoric artifacts for study remained at the Burke 

Museum; security and storage of NAGPRA–related artifacts were 

improved; and the Kane Hall sediment samples were moved to the SAJH 

collection at NOCA. 

With the acceptance of bulk sediment samples from UW, more storage 

room was needed. Cabinets and cabinet tops in Marblemount Curation 

Facility storage were overcrowded and items spilled into the halls. With 

16 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
Museum Collection Protection and Preservation funds, construction began 

on an adjoining 960 square foot collection storage room at the 

Marblemount Curation Facility. Unfortunately, a lack of locational data or 

a storage plan compounded the overcrowding and the accountability 

deficiencies. 

The Tabor Geology Collection was accessioned and partially cataloged by 

a geology student in 2002. The researcher/donor provided excellent 

documentation, and the collection is accompanied by a geology tour book, 

“Geology of the North Cascades.” 

The 1996 collection of aquatic insects by park ecologist Reed Glesne 

added depth to the park faunal list. The insects were cataloged in 2001, 

and stored in a newly renovated Seattle City Light building in Newhalem 

dedicated to NPS collection storage and laboratory activities. 

Archives were accessioned and finding aids created for records acquired in 

the mid-1990s. A call for additional archival materials went out in 2002. 

The NOCA Administrative History generated eight linear feet of archives 

which support the assertions and footnotes in this document. A finding aid 

was started in 2003, and is under development. 

2002-2004 — Collection Development and Access 

In 2002 museum staff began moving SAJH collections to the dedicated 

SAJH addition at the Marblemount Curation Facility. The first wave of 

moved objects included the sediment samples from UW Kane Hall. Some 

historic artifacts and archives were also placed in the SAJH room. The 

herbarium was filled in 2003 by the 2002 SAJH forays conducted by 

NOCA botanists. In 2004 the SAJH superintendent and chief of resource 

management toured the facility, and then assisted in moving the majority 

of historic artifacts from the NOCA room to the SAJH room. The effort is 

ongoing, with the curator conducting a 100% in-house inventory of every 

catalog number encountered, noting condition and documenting the 

storage location. 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 17 
Historic building stabilization compliance work at Ebey’s Landing 

National Historical Reserve, which began in 2001, produced the 

beginnings of an archeology collection for the reserve. The collection was 

on loan and housed at NOCA. A formal Letter of Agreement between 

NOCA and EBLA was signed in 2004 transferring collection management 

to the NOCA curator. Archeological artifacts were cataloged at NOCA 

and a team led by the Fort Vancouver NHS archeologist assessed and 

described the EBLA collection in 2004. The accession is 75% cataloged. 

A Scope of Collection Statement has been drafted. 

Both of the above activities affected NOCA collection management. 

Moving SAJH artifacts into the SAJH storage space freed NOCA 

collections storage in the NOCA room for NOCA objects. Storage floor 

plans and storage plans for both rooms were deemed imperative prior to 

further moving, unpacking, and storage. 

As part of the Natural Resource Challenge, the North Coast and Cascades 

Research Learning Network was established in 2002. Inventory and 

Monitoring Program (I&M) baseline data is continually being added to the 

NPSpecies database. Research permits result in collections, reports, and 

associated materials, but the tracking of the progress and disposition of 

these collections and reports has been incomplete and fragmented. 

Interactions with the I&M program data manager and science advisor are 

limited by time and coordination factors. A system for follow-up on 

research permit collections and reporting activities needs to be addressed 

nationally, with NOCA leading the fray in examples of need. 

Herbarium collections by UW research forays and baseline inventories 

increased the herbarium collection by another 2,000 specimens; additional 

herbarium cabinets will be added in the near future. Contracts to survey 

plant communities created baseline information for planning and 

mitigation in rock climbing areas and road clearing excavation. Also, the 

first collections in the park of lichens, liverworts, and mosses were 

documented by Martin Hutten in 2004. 

The Misch Geology Collection was accessioned in 2003. It is the first and 

most complete story of geologic processes and their results in the North 

18 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
Cascades region. Dr. Peter Misch, who taught generations of Washington 

geologists from 1948 to 1990 at the University of Washington, held 

theories and facilitated tests which supported the major tenets of plate 

tectonics. His 3,000 hand specimens, thin sections, and field notes were in 

need of a home with the UW geology building undergoing renovation. 

Since site localities in the park are so well documented, the park is 

fortunate to be the repository of this collection. It is in need of cataloging, 

but the field notes are in the UW Natural Resource Archives. Archival 

access through duplication will directly assist in the catalog effort. 

The Buckner Homestead Historic District continues to be managed as a 

historic cultural landscape, with few farming elements surviving to 

preserve. The NOCA employees living on site have protected the basic 

existence of farm machinery, but the condition of farm materials slowly 

degrades. An inventory of plants and cultural scatter would document a 

snapshot in time, but the involvement of curators at the site has been 

minimal. 

Digital data format is of increasing concern in collections management. A 

survey of backup tapes, floppy disks, and CDs and their readers was 

recently undertaken. An upward migration of data was completed, and 

computer systems are being upgraded. Obsolete media and readers have 

been disposed of by the NOCA Property Officer. Acquisition of digital 

scanners and their application has created the potential for sharing 

archives, artifact and object information, and images. Since scanning is 

labor intensive, numerous volunteers have been utilized to digitize 

documents, transcripts, and images. Collecting digital information from 

researchers offers an additional means of searching information. Storage 

of digital media and the incumbent responsibility of its migration to 

current media also need attention. 

The Marblemount Curatorial Facility provides a setting for researchers, 

educators, and park staff to come together to share knowledge and 

expertise, and to discuss current research in meetings, seminars, and 

classes. 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 19 
Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve Collections 

Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve (EBLA) is a National 

Register historic district that was established by Congress as a unit of the 

National Park system in 1978 to preserve and protect a rural community 

that exhibits Pacific Northwest history in its place names, archeological 

sites, historic buildings and structures, and historical land use patterns. It is 

a nationally significant cultural landscape that represents a continuum of 

humans interacting with their environment from prehistoric times to the 

present. It is approximately 17,400 acres in size, and about 90% of the 

land is privately owned. The NPS has no authority over local government. 

EBLA is managed by a unit of local government, as required by the 

enabling legislation. This unit of government was defined with the 

creation of the Trust Board of Ebey’s Landing NHR, a mostly volunteer 

board of citizens who live in the area and are appointed by the four 

governmental entities that represent EBLA: town of Coupeville, Island 

County, Washington State Parks, and the National Park Service. The trust 

board does not have authority over any of these government partners. The 

role of the board is to serve as the umbrella organization that works to 

ensure the reserve moves into the future with its character and integrity 

intact, all within the context of a working, living, and viable modern 

community. The National Park Service allocation for EBLA in FY2004 

was $209,500. Approximately half of that amount goes to the trust board 

as a matching grant for its operations. Both NPS and the trust board have 

limited staffing capabilities. 

Background of Collections at EBLA 

The legislation establishing the reserve never intended the NPS to be a 

large landowner within EBLA. The NPS role is to provide technical 

assistance in matters of land protection, historic preservation, and 

interpretation. Establishing museum collections were not a part of the trust 

board’s mission, nor the NPS vision or mission for the Reserve. The Island 

County Historical Society and Museum have been the “keepers” of Island 

County history, including the area within which the reserve is located. The 

trust board did create a slide library to document the reserve landscape and 

20 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
to facilitate giving interpretive programs. Photographs and maps have also 

been collected for resource management, land protection, and interpretive 

work. In the Resources Management Plan, written and approved in 1995 

and updated in 1999, a project statement addressing collections was 

developed (“Prepare Scope of Collections Statement”). This statement 

was the extent of the attention paid to collections, as additions to the 

collection were not anticipated at the time. 

Since the creation of EBLA, a number of events have occurred which have 

caused increasing concern about collections management needs. The NPS 

and trust board embarked on an ambitious oral history program in the 

1990s which resulted in dozens of taped interviews, transcripts, 

reproductions of photographs. and other ephemera. After 25 years of 

existence, the trust board and NPS have created administrative files and 

records for the unit. An administrative history was prepared in 1993, and 

records accumulated for that research study were retained. Also, after the 

NPS received the historic Ferry House from The Nature Conservancy as a 

donation, stabilization work immediately began on this significant 

structure. The preservation work on the foundation resulted in artifacts and 

samples being uncovered and collected. At the same time, the historic 

Jacob Ebey Blockhouse was being rehabilitated by the NPS, and again, 

artifacts were collected from that foundation work. 

Present and Future Collections Management Needs 

EBLA now has artifacts that need cleaning, cataloging, and culling by 

experts. The reserve has a draft Scope of Collections statement in place 

which needs final approval. There is no staff for collections management 

work at EBLA. The reserve relies solely on the North Cascades National 

Park Service Complex’s curator who, under signed agreement, serves as 

the curator-of-record for EBLA. Each year EBLA makes an attempt to 

provide funding to offset NOCA staff time, and in 2004, $1600 was given 

to NOCA as reimbursement. EBLA has no storage capabilities for 

museum collections, so NOCA is serving as the repository for the 

artifacts. Additional collections management work will need to be done at 

EBLA, for many other historic structures owned by the NPS will require 

compliance activities and rehabilitation work. This will likely result in 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 21 
more artifacts being added to the collection for documentation, review, 

and study. Funding for an archives project has been requested. 

A general management plan is currently underway at EBLA and the needs 

of the archives and collections are being addressed in the plan. One 

alternative calls for the possibility of having the local museum serve, in 

part, as a repository of some Ferry House and other artifacts, in order to 

keep these valuable assets in a local setting. However, the local museum is 

currently not able to provide that space and service, resulting in NOCA 

remaining the primary facility for EBLA collections. As a result EBLA 

will continue to require space and staff time from NOCA to meet the 

ever-growing demand for data management and reporting necessary to 

meet NPS requirements. 

22 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
Collections Philosophy 

The basic principles for managing museum collections in national parks 

are not always well understood. Park managers, resource managers, and 

interpreters are often too busy with their specialties and daily work to fully 

consider the concepts and logistics governing collection management. It is 

easy for parks to fall short of developing a sound museum management 

program and, as a result, not realize the full benefit and value from their 

collections. 

This section provides the following background information about 

museum collections: 

• The purpose of museum collections 

• How museum collections represent a park's resources 

• Determining where to locate museum collections 

• Establishing access, use, and management policies for museum 

collections 

Purpose of Museum Collections within National Parks 

Museum collections contain objects and specimens, and most museums 

administer their own archives and operate their own libraries. These 

functions are necessary to support the work of the organization as a whole. 

It is not unusual for these resources—archives, collections, and libraries—

to also be accessible to the public. 

Within national parks, museum collections (including archives) serve four 

basic functions: 

• Documentation of resources - Park collections should serve as 

documentation of the physical resources of the park as well as the history 

of the park's efforts to preserve and protect those resources. 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 23 
• Physical preservation and protection of resources - Park collections 

should help preserve and protect a park's resources, not only by keeping 

the specimens and collections made to document the resources, but also by 

preserving information about the individual items and the resource as a 

whole. This is central to the management of both natural and cultural 

material. 

• Research - During documentation of collections, a park performs 

research to provide the background information used in cataloging. The 

park is also responsible for making this collections information available 

to legitimate research, which can itself lead to new discoveries about an 

individual item, or the park as a whole. 

• Public programs - The park is responsible for using its collections to 

provide information to the public. Exhibits and publications are two 

traditional means of supplying public programs, but new technology has 

led to other communication methods, including electronic access through 

web sites and online databases. 

How Collections Represent a Park's Resources 

A park's museum, library, and archival collections provide different 

perspectives on its resources: 

Museum collections, which contain three-dimensional objects and 

specimens, should represent the resources within the park boundaries. 

Examples of museum collections include: artifacts from archeological 

compliance activities; specimens and resulting reports from resource 

management projects; and paint samples and building fragments from 

restoration of historic structures. 

The park archives may contain files, manuscripts, maps, building plans, 

and photos that document the history of park development and the 

management of its resources. Individual collections within the archives 

should further document the activities that created portions of the museum 

collections. Examples of park archives include: copies of field journals 

and maps created while collecting botanical specimens; photographs taken 

24 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
during historic structure work; maps and as-built drawings made during 

utility installation; and property, land, and water use agreements that 

document past acquisition and use of park lands. 

The park library contains both published literature and less formal reports 

and documents relevant to the park's resources and their management. 

Examples might include: general literature concerning local history, flora 

and fauna; specialized scientific studies involving biota and archeological 

resources found in the park; circulating copies of park specific planning 

documents; trade, craft and professional journals reflecting the need for 

park staff to remain current in their field. 

Determining Where to Locate Park Collections 

The NPS Museum Handbook should be used as a guideline for identifying 

locations for branch or satellite park collections, and establishing 

methodologies for their documentation, organization, storage, and use. 

Centrally located collections are most effective, as this promotes efficient 

use of space (particularly in terms of combining preparation and work 

areas). However, it may also be operationally efficient to split the 

collections among potential users (for example, the herbarium and insect 

collection going to Natural Resources for storage and use). 

Branch or satellite collections are possible as long as proper preservation 

and security conditions are met, and the requisite work areas necessary for 

management and use are provided. Overall responsibility for 

documentation, preservation, and reporting should, however, remain 

vested in one curatorial lead position, no matter where branch collections 

are located. 

Establishing Access, Use, and Management Policies 

Access, use, and management policies define who can access the 

collections (both staff and public), what types of use are possible and 

under what conditions, and how the collections should be managed. 

Desired outcomes or products should be identified as well; for example, 

the type of services that are expected from the collections. Some examples 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 25 
include production of over-lays for buried utilities; production of CDs 

containing research done at the park; liberal access to botanical specimens 

for comparative studies; and inter-library loan services. 

The park may wish to consider the use of focus group exercises to develop 

a number of park-specific documents, including a Role and Function 

Statement, for the combined collections. These would clearly state who is 

responsible for the development of a joint resource and how the museum 

program will function to serve park-wide goals. Access and use policies 

should be defined and implemented, and responsibilities for development, 

documentation, and management of the resource should be defined in a 

formal Position Description and associated performance standards. These 

objectives must be fully defined in writing if they are to be accomplished 

in fact. 

Some recommendations to consider for developing and formalizing the 

park's management philosophy for archives, libraries, and museum 

collections are as follows: 

• Create a focus group of senior staff representing all park 

administrative units to define what the collections should contain, 

how they should be managed and accessed most efficiently, and what 

products should be produced upon request. 

• Define the role and function of the combined collections by formal 

statement, formal access policies, and formal methodologies for 

depositing collections material, archival information, and required 

literature into the collections. 

• Assign responsibility for developing and managing the joint 

collections to a single administrative unit and individual using a 

formal Position Description and performance standards. 

• Identify possible cooperative partnerships in the community with 

groups that hold common interests regarding the preservation and 

management of park resources. 

26 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
Issue A— 

Archives Management

Issue Statement 

The achievement of best practices for archives management will 

benefit resources and promote accessibility to archives collections 

for staff and public use. 

Background 

Since the park’s beginning, the staff, superintendents, and concessionaires 

of the North Cascades National Park Service Complex, along with Ebey's 

Landing National Historical Reserve and San Juan National Historical 

Park—which fall under NOCA's curatorial responsibility—have created 

an irreplaceable administrative and resource management record that 

chronicles the history of these unique places. This archives collection 

reveals a long legacy of human interaction with the environment. The 

archival collections’ associations with key site-related individuals, groups, 

and events make them as central to the site as the park structures and the 

ecosystems around them. 

Authors, educators, filmmakers, park staff, publishers, students, and the 

public use archival collections as source material for their research, 

interpretation, and works. Park archives and records also serve as legal 

evidence; as baseline data for resource management; as outreach 

information for interpretation, publications, web sites, and educational 

programs; and to further park knowledge and study. Archival materials 

include: 

Personal papers and family papers, such as the papers of the park 

founder or site-associated eminent individual, site-associated family 

papers, and similar collections; 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 27 
Organizational records, such as a Cooperating Association’s records or 

those of early corporations, institutions, or groups who flourished on the 

park site; 

Assembled manuscript collections, such as historic views of the park site 

assembled by visitors or donors, or manuscripts that document siteassociated events, activities, places, structures, ecosystem, or staff; 

Resource management records, including NPS and contractor-generated 

records used to manage cultural and natural resources; field notes of an 

anthropological, archeological, or natural history field, interview, or 

excavation data; architectural or landscape records; cartographic materials; 

electronic/magnetic materials (such as audiotapes, CD-ROMs, databases, 

magnetic tape, and GIS data); moving images (including videotapes, 

motion pictures, and research footage); photographs (including negatives, 

transparencies, slides, prints, and direct positive processes such as 

daguerreotypes and tintypes); textual records (including Collection 

Management Plans, master plans, and research data), and similar items; 

Administrative history records, including files accumulated for 

administrative history publications; desk files of individuals; subject files 

maintained for internal use; copies of internal policies; reference files of 

park ephemera; and copies of reports such as the superintendent’s reports; 

Individual manuscripts, including individual book manuscripts, 

electronic records, unpublished reports, correspondence, diaries, letters, 

lists, notes, and similar materials. 

Archives and manuscript collections are mandated by legislation, 

regulations, and policy to be a part of the park’s museum collection. Thus 

historically, museum approaches have often been applied to archival 

collections. However, archival collections require a distinct approach to 

ensure their integrity. 

Six federal laws provide the basic legal mandate for managing museum 

collections in the NPS. Legislation began with the Act for the Preservation 

of American Antiquities of 1906, and continued with the Organic Act of 

1916, the Historic Sites Act of 1935, the Museum Properties Management 

28 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
Act of 1955, the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, and the 

Archeological Resources Protection Act of 1979. Together these mandates 

laid the foundations for the protection and preservation of historic 

resources, including sites, buildings, objects, associated records, and 

reference materials. 

The Historic Sites, Buildings, and Antiquities Act of 1935 was the first 

acknowledgement of the importance of records associated with specific 

artifacts. Associated records, such as drawings, plans, and photographs, 

provided valuable supporting data in the operation and management of 

historic and archaeological sites, buildings, and objects. 

The National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (NHPA), as amended 

through 1992, reasserted the authority of park museums over historical 

documents. Section 110 of this act called for the preservation of any 

historic property owned or controlled by a federal agency, including 

records. The NHPA required that “records and other data, including data 

produced by historical research and archeological surveys and excavations 

are permanently maintained in appropriate databases and made available 

to potential users.” 

The Archaeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA) of 1979 further 

made it compulsory that records associated with an archeological project 

be maintained as an integral part of the collection. In fact, associated 

records such as field notes, photos, and maps can make up an entire 

collection, particularly when survey projects do not yield material 

remains. 

Regulations establishing the standards, procedures, and guidelines for the 

preservation of recovered prehistoric and historic material and their 

associated records are outlined in Title 36 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations Part 79 - Curation of Federally-Owned and Administered 

Archaeological Collections (36 CFR 79). This regulation focuses attention 

on the importance of records associated with archeological projects, and 

on the records resulting from the management of archeological projects. It 

also broadens the scope of curation service beyond artifacts and their 

associated records. 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 29 
Curatorial services now include managing and preserving a collection in 

accordance with professional museum and archival practices. The 

practices listed in the regulations, however, are those broadly applicable to 

both the museum curation and archival professions. These, for example, 

include inventorying, accessioning, labeling, storing the collections using 

appropriate containers, and conserving the collections. The regulations do 

not address the specialized techniques required of archival collections. 

Further, the regulations focus solely on the procedural aspect of archival 

work. While the use of archival quality materials, description, and finding 

aids is important in the overall processing of an archival collection, this is 

only one aspect of archival work. Recognition must also be given to the 

guiding principles of provenance and original order, which underpin 

archival appraisal and collection organization. 

National Park Service policies implementing the above mandates and 

regulations are contained within DO#28: Cultural Resources Management 

Guideline and the NPS Museum Handbook. 

Currently, the NPS recognizes the importance of treating archives in 

accordance with professional archival principles. The current Museum 

Handbook clearly demonstrates this in the following passage: "Archival 

and manuscript collections are museum collections, and they will be 

cataloged, preserved, arranged, and described in finding aids in ways that 

preserve the collections and their context (provenance and original order) 

intact while providing controlled access. With few legal exemptions, the 

NPS will make archives and manuscripts available to researchers . . . All 

documentation associated with natural and cultural resource studies and 

other resource management actions will be retained in the park’s museum 

collection for use in managing park resources over time." 

Archival and manuscript collections warrant specialized attention and 

adherence to professional practices that protect the collections’ integrity. 

Even though National Park Service policy and guidelines regarding 

archival and manuscript collections are aligning with professional archival 

principles, implementation relies on the training and ability of the museum 

staff. 

30 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
Discussion 

According to the 2003 Collection Management Report, North Cascades 

National Park has custody of 74,625 archival items in its museum 

collection, 52,367 of which have been cataloged into the Automated 

National Catalog System (ANCS+) Collection Management Module. An 

inventory by the NOCA curator shows a substantial backlog of 359 linear 

feet or 574,400 items of archival material. The Collection Management 

Report notes only 211 research requests for 2003, but this does not reflect 

the actual use of the park’s archival and manuscript holdings by park staff 

and the public. 

The curatorial staff at NOCA has worked hard and devoted considerable 

time, energy, and attention to the archival collections. Unfortunately, most 

of the archival work did not proceed according to standard archival 

procedures. Consequently, several problems have emerged that are 

serious, though not insurmountable. 

The physical and intellectual arrangement of the collections needs to be 

improved. The provenance of some collections is unclear, the hierarchical 

levels of arrangement within collections are confusing or non-existent, and 

logical arrangement schemes are seldom identified or employed. 

Problems with cataloging and description are partly the result of failure to 

comprehend the internal organizational structure of collections. Most of 

the archival holdings at NOCA already are arranged physically into 

distinct collections, although this physical segregation is not always 

reflected in the ANCS+ catalog entries. On the other hand, there are also 

many individual documents that not only have been cataloged 

inappropriately as individual museum objects but which physically are 

part of ill-defined or unarranged collections, and are mixed with 

documents that could belong to other collections. 

Cataloged documents in the ANCS+ Collection Management Module 

have mostly been entered incorrectly at the series level, or the file unit 

level, or even the item level, instead of the collection level. In the 

Collection Management Module the actual descriptions and even the titles 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 31 
tend to be sketchy, and often fail to convey much meaningful information. 

Photograph collections, while accessioned as discrete collections, are 

item-cataloged in the Collection Management Module with each 

photograph assigned a catalog number and incorrectly documented as 

historical rather than archival. 

The finding aids are inconsistent, not created to discipline standards and 

consist of indexes inserted into the storage boxes, printed inventory sheets, 

and a Microsoft Access database detailing inventory description. In 

addition, some items may have been accessioned into the museum 

collection inappropriately, and would be more suitable for the park library 

or for a curatorial reference collection. 

A professionally trained and experienced archivist needs to conduct an 

archival assessment and survey of the park. The purpose of the survey is to 

make a comprehensive and systematic review of official and non-official 

archival holdings. The survey is intended to assist park staff in making 

decisions about record groups that would be appropriate for inclusion in 

the museum collection. The focus of the survey is upon collection level 

descriptions, including appraisal, evaluation, and recommendations for 

arrangement and description (accessioning, cataloging, finding aid 

production, and web-based collection level descriptions). 

Secondary information will consist of three reviews: 1) preservation 

condition of the record groups examined (prioritized needs for 

stabilization, re-housing, reformatting, and treatment); 2) potential legal 

problems (copyright, privacy/publicity concerns); and 3) a summary of 

existing problems in the park infrastructure for archives (such as missing 

policies and procedures, and the adequacy of the Scope of Collection 

Statement, equipment, space, staff training, and staffing). The results of 

the survey and the short and long range planning suggestions provided in 

the survey report will provide guidance to the park in setting priorities for 

accessioning, processing, cataloging, preserving, and providing access to 

park archival collections. 

32 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
Archives Management 

While the functions of museum and archives are similar, the approach each 

discipline takes to accomplish these functions is fundamentally different. 

Many museum employees report that appraising, arranging, and describing 

archival collections presents the greatest difficulty. Archival methodologies 

can provide curators with good guidance in the appropriate approaches to 

these tasks. The following sections will discuss the selection process 

including acquisition and appraisal of documents, and intellectual access 

including arranging, cataloging, and describing collections. A discussion of 

preservation and reference services will follow. 

Acquisition and Appraisal 

The acquisition process includes identifying material that falls within the 

scope of collections, appraising materials for permanent value, and 

assuming legal custody through the accession process. The park’s mission, 

as stated in the enabling legislation, presidential proclamation, or 

executive order, guides the scope of a park’s museum acquisitions. 

According to the Museum Handbook, “acquisition methods for museum 

objects include: gift, purchase, exchange, transfer, field collection, and 

loan.” Archives typically acquire a group of related records to serve as the 

park’s institutional memory. 

Before formal acquisition can take place, staff must appraise the materials’ 

value to determine which are to be retained as archives. Appraisal is one 

of the most critical aspects of archival work. The primary purpose of an 

archives is to sustain a collective memory and communicate that memory 

to future generations. Appraising archival collections involves not just the 

consideration of historical issues, but also requires a firm understanding of 

the value of records for accountability and evidence. 

Archivists appraise primary sources, in contrast to curators’ appraisal of 

specimens and objects which is largely guided by the intrinsic rarity or 

representative value of each piece. Archivists must not only judge whether 

specific collections are relevant to a park’s scope of collections, they must 

also judge the secondary value of records that document the “big picture.” 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 33 
If a collection or document is appraised as not having archival value, that 

information is forever lost. 

When appraising records, archivists must be especially sound in their 

analysis of the organization and functioning body with which they deal, 

and they must have a broad knowledge of probable research need and 

interest. Archivists judge the value of the item in relation to other items, 

that is, in relation to the entire documentation of the activity that resulted 

in its production. Therefore, they select records for preservation in the 

aggregate, not as single items. The collection provides context to its 

individual parts. When each archival document is viewed as an object the 

concept of records being inter-related with one another is not respected. 

In general, the current NOCA system for acquisition and appraisal of 

archival collections is not functioning in accordance with archival theory 

and methodology. Park museum staff have been doing their best to 

execute these functions, but the contradictory nature of museums and 

archives methods makes satisfying these tasks difficult. Decentralization 

of resource management records into the park archives has expanded 

archival holdings, thus increasing the demands on museum staff. 

At present, NOCA archives has much unnecessary material, and lacks 

records and manuscripts that should have been acquired. Furthermore, 

many accessioned collections lack provenance, original order, and are 

typically organized as smaller pieces of what was once a large collection. 

The current budget and staffing situations require archival acquisitions to 

be highly scrutinized. NOCA museum staff needs much support, training 

and guidance in performing the delicate and demanding task of appraisal. 

Arranging, Cataloging, and Describing 

Archivists, curators, and librarians all desire to make their holdings 

accessible for research. In order to provide users physical access to 

holdings, there must first be intellectual access. Each discipline is guided 

by different principles to provide access to their specific materials. With 

regard to archives, intellectual access is provided through the arrangement 

and description of the archival collection. Archives preserve and make 

34 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
accessible the documentary resources park administrators need for 

successful operations. Archives also support ongoing resource 

management projects and serve the research needs of park employees and 

the public. In order for these responsibilities to be met, proper cataloging 

of archival collections is vital. Employing non-archival arranging, 

cataloging, and describing methods can compromise the integrity of an 

archival collection. 

Archival descriptive practice 

includes cataloging and the 

production of finding aids. 

Archivists catalog collections 

at multiple levels with 

emphasis on the provenance 

and function of non-published, 

usually unique groups of 

materials. Archival cataloging 

captures the contents and 

structure, the context, the 

conditions for access and use, 

and the linked materials 

relating to their holdings. 

Archivists base the complexity 

and detail of an archival 

description upon the value of the collection. They give relatively minimal 

descriptions to collections with less monetary value and risk, fewer users, 

and less evidential, associational, and artifactual information. Collections 

with greater value, risk, and usage receive fuller or more detailed 

description at more levels. 

Figure 1 - Archivist Robert Applegate in NOCA 

archives storage 

All park archival descriptive work begins at the collection level. Minimal 

records are preliminary data most frequently gained during surveying. 

Full records are the standard data elements sought for an average 

collection that fits a park’s Scope of Collection Statement (SOCS) and has 

at least moderate value and/or usage. Archivists produce detailed or inNorth Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 35 
depth catalog records only for the most significant archival holdings in a 

park. Archivists start by gathering minimal information for planning and 

minimal cataloging during a survey. Only after processing do archivists 

produce full or detailed catalog records. 

The size and complexity of archival collections require archivists to 

describe the collections and their context hierarchically, moving from the 

general to the specific. Archivists describe collections at a variety of 

levels, beginning at the broadest, or collection, level. The data fields used 

at the various levels may vary. At each of these, the level of descriptive 

detail will differ, but are based upon a wide array of standards, including 

those established by international, national, and professional organizations 

and the NPS MMP standards specific to ANCS+. 

Archival cataloging techniques are complex and professionally 

standardized. To develop the necessary skills requires experience, training, 

and an apprenticeship under a trained professional. Using untrained or 

inexperienced catalogers ensures that the work will not meet professional 

standards. Many older ANCS+ catalog records will require significant 

revision, particularly field contents, field authority usage, and Archives 

Personal Papers and Manuscript (APPM) stylistic formatting. Poor 

archival cataloging records don’t provide good accountability and access 

to collections or meet any of the other basic purposes of archival 

cataloging. 

Preservation and Reference Services 

Preservation entails safeguarding the physical integrity of material through 

repairing, restoring, maintaining, or protecting documents. Archivists may 

use reformatting techniques for preservation to retain the information 

contained on a document, not necessarily the document itself. For 

instance, highly acidic and unstable diazotype maps are often reformatted 

onto microfilm or digitized, in order to remove the original which may 

degrade other materials. 

The final and foremost function of archives is to provide users with 

reference services so they may have physical access to the facilities 

36 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
holdings. As public institutions, parks have a legal obligation to provide 

physical access and reference services. The Organic Act of 1916 mandates 

that agency collections are to be preserved and maintained for the use and 

enjoyment of the American people. The Freedom of Information Act 

(FOIA) provides U.S. citizens with unrestricted access to the documentary 

records of the actions of their government, such as policy files. In 

addition, federal agencies must provide swift access to FOIA requests. 

However, not all government records are open to the public. Certain 

personnel files, internal personnel practices, records compiled for law 

enforcement, archeological records that reveal site locations, and records 

documenting the nature of archeological resources are legally exempt 

from FOIA requests. Therefore, privacy issues must be considered before 

providing access and reference services to the public. Responding quickly 

to all research inquires whether they are by telephone, mail, e-mail, or in 

person is important to maintaining a positive rapport with the public. 

Providing proper reference services is difficult with limited staff and 

designated space for research. Adequate supervision is vital to ensure the 

preservation and safety of the National Park Service’s collections, as well 

as copyright and privacy protections. 

Records Management 

Numerous NOCA/EBLA cultural, natural, resource, and administrative 

staff members interviewed during research for this document have 

committed themselves to the retention of resource-related documentation, 

but there is much confusion and lack of direction. Often these records are 

thoughtlessly purged because of a weak emphasis on professional records 

management—resource related records in particular—within the NPS. 

Methods for improving park records management activities should be 

provided for staff, in addition to archival guidance for the museum 

collection. 

The value of a well-organized park museum archives cannot be 

underestimated or understated. It serves as a source of cultural, natural, 

interpretive, and planning research and data, reflecting past management 

decisions and serving as the basis for current and future management 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 37 
decisions. Thorough recording of past resource projects prevents needless 

repetition of studies, as has been common in the NPS’s past. Retaining 

past park management documents also serves as legal protection for park 

staff when issues arise that hinge on past park actions. Many issues critical 

to a park are revisited over its history, so the history of the park’s actions 

is vital to understanding the present and future forces affecting the park. 

Records management training is available to NPS employees, although 

often from other federal agencies. The staff management should contact 

the Pacific West Region/Seattle Office training officer for further 

assistance in locating appropriate training opportunities for park staff. A 

NOCA records management officer should contact the NPS service-wide 

records officer, Michael Grimes (202-208-4333) for all the reference 

material needed to perform record management activities. 

The NOCA management staff should establish a records review policy. 

The designated park records manager should establish a records 

disposition board, involving all park divisions and sites, to review all 

records before formal disposition by the records officer. The park will then 

have the opportunity to ensure the retention of important documents 

pertaining to the park’s mission: records of park resource management, of 

the history of interpretation of the park’s resources, and of park 

archeological and historical research projects. This board would also 

establish, through the input of the park curator, an SOP delineating the 

proper transfer of permanent material to the museum archives (see 

Appendix A, page 85). It will also ensure that ineligible records, such as 

personnel related documents containing personal data protected under the 

Privacy Act, will not be incorporated into the park archives. 

Recommendations 

• Conduct an archival assessment/survey of parks and sites under 

NOCA's umbrella of curatorial responsibility. Obtain funds and 

contact professional NPS archives personnel. 

• Establish clear procedures for retiring resource management records to 

the park archives. Establish lines of communication with park 

38 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
divisions and provide guidance documents/SOP to facilitate the 

transfer of material (see Appendix A, page 85). 

• Establish a records disposition board involving all park divisions and 

sites to dictate park records policy and to review all records before 

formal disposition by the records officer. 

• Initiate training to change how employees view records management 

and to spark interest and commitment to proper recordkeeping 

practices. 

• Review current museum object and archives management staffing 

needs in light of the present and future museum curation workload 

Ensure positions are filled by qualified professionals on base (ONPS) 

funding and provide continuing education for staff professionals.

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 39 
Figure 2 Herbarium specimen with label 

40 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
Issue B— 

Scientific Collections 

Issue Statement 

Existing park collections must be better documented and organized 

to be of maximum supportive use to park programs, while protocols 

and standards need to be formalized to govern collection growth. 

Background 

The history of collections has been summarized in the introductory section 

of this document. It touches on the relationships of the issues concerning 

the increase in the number and quality of the scientific collection. Most of 

the concerns focus on directed growth and the improvement of the 

scientific collection through subsequent use, research and culling. This 

section concentrates on the current status of those collections that have 

resulted from formal research. It also discusses information that continues 

to be collected during data recovery expeditions and baseline data forays, 

and information that could eventually be incorporated into a research 

design. 

The North Cascades natural history collections are housed at Marblemount 

Curation Facility, Newhalem Research Center, The Burke Museum, and 

the University of Washington herbarium. The arrangements with the 

University of Washington are likely to continue for the foreseeable future 

since significant research and inventorying projects are being 

cooperatively conducted by NPS staff and University of Washington 

professors and students. 

The collection storage room at Stehekin will house natural history objects, 

such as the entomological specimens that have been collected, plus those 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 41 
that are likely to be collected and prepared through the park Inventory and 

Monitoring Program. Ebey’s Landing (EBLA) and San Juan Island 

National Historical Park (SAJH) will also have voucher specimens housed 

at the Marblemount Curation Facility and the University of Washington 

herbarium after they are collected, prepared, and annotated. EBLA has no 

natural science specimens in its collection, but this is likely to change as 

the Inventory and Monitoring (I&M) Program begins to intensify 

collecting there. EBLA does not have space dedicated to an herbarium. 

Relatively few vertebrate specimens have been collected and prepared 

from NOCA. The collection is comprised of 220 vertebrate species that 

are housed at the Burke Museum as comparative samples for research. 

Park personnel currently have no plan to add preserved specimens to the 

collection; however, active invertebrate collecting is being conducted in 

the park. This collecting program began as part of the Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission (FERC) re-licensing agreement and is now part 

of the Inventory and Monitoring program. 

SAJH 

SUBJECT TYPE NOCA EBLA 

BURKE MCF FOVA 

Archeology 3,624 1,800 71,526 27,509 5,727

Biology 9,994 21 494 

Geology 1,303 28 

Paleontology 4 39 

History 1657 1058 

Archives 275 1 14 31 

Table 1 Number of cataloged records in each facility associated with NOCA, EBLA, 

and SAJH collections 

Geological field schools have been conducted within the North Cascades 

park boundaries for decades. These field schools have been tracked 

through the permit system, which has allowed them to house the 

collections though the information is entered into ANCS+. Glacier 

monitoring and geological landform mapping are being conducted by NPS 

staff. These projects generate data, maps, field notes, and photos that will 

become part of the park collection once the projects become inactive. 

The cultural collections include objects that document history, archeology, 

ethnography, and associated records from each of the park units. The 

majority of objects come from archeological investigations. Overall, the 

42 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
archeological artifacts have accurate provenance and are associated with 

good site descriptions and other information that meets federal and state 

documentation standards. The history objects have varied research value 

because some lack many of the necessary associated records. Few park 

funded ethnographic documentation projects have been carried out, but the 

data is adequately recorded and stored at the Marblemount Curation 

Facility. Ethnographic research has been done by other institutions. While 

the information from these documents may not pertain directly to the park, 

background data on affiliated tribes could be useful in land-use studies. 

The Thomas Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture at the 

University of Washington houses prehistoric artifacts and the original 

associated records from San Juan Island’s English Camp excavations. This 

collection has been fully processed and cataloged into the Burke 

cataloging system ARGUS as well as into ANCS+. The Marblemount 

Curation Facility houses the historic artifacts and original associated 

records from all San Jan Island excavations. 

Since the Burke-housed artifacts and specimens have been analyzed for 

the final report and now offer value to researchers as a comparative 

collection, they have been arranged by type instead of by provenance. 

Samples from each facies and stratum are housed according to their 

material or genus, making it possible for researchers to look at several 

objects of the same grouping. While this is tremendously useful for 

identification projects, the specimens are not housed to accommodate 

researchers interested in general intra-site analysis. Researchers interested 

in revisiting on-site associations will have to rely on the associated records 

instead of the objects to address their questions. The majority of the 

artifacts housed at the Burke are shell samples but a there is also a 

significant amount of bone and lithic material. Many of the sediment 

samples have undergone chemical analysis and that data is recorded in 

several publications. 

Discussion 

The responsibilities of the North Cascades curator have increased over the 

past several years with the addition of collections from parks within the 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 43 
North Coast and Cascades Network. This has been a positive movement 

that bolsters the credibility of the facility as a research center for the 

network. However, with the changing of personnel and the restructuring of 

how park programs conduct business, it is imperative that the curator be 

involved in aspects of the planning process for all scientific activities and 

monitoring programs taking place in the parks served by the collections. 

The curator’s involvement also must extend to each project’s close-out to 

ensure that appropriate materials are transferred to the facility and 

included in the permanent files. This level of involvement will require that 

the curator’s position be upgraded to full-time, a conclusion discussed in 

greater detail in Issue F. 

Inventory and Monitoring Program 

The NPS Natural Resource Challenge is responsible for providing the 

Natural Resource Divisions in the network with a direction that focuses on 

Inventory and Monitoring resources within the park. Although NPS-77 

states that the Inventory and Monitoring data systems are meant only to 

track data, many of the projects generate specimens and records 

documenting National Park Service resources that will be preserved in the 

curation facility. A major aspect of the I&M program is the appointment 

of data management positions to track and coalesce information in a 

standardized format (i.e. GIS shapefiles, reports, databases, photos, 

spreadsheets, and notes) to be included in the NatureBib and NPSpecies. 

The data manager position is an important link for the curator to fully 

understand which I&M projects are generating valuable data and 

specimens that fit with the Scope of Collections and should be transferred 

to collection storage. The Marblemount Curation Facility should function 

as a storage area for I&M backup data, as well as the park facility that 

houses archived copies of reports and information. With the sensitivity of 

much of the I&M data, this information and associated specimens need to 

fall under a restricted access category. Data managers need to remain the 

contact for any inquiries about the I&M information. 

The data manager position has similar responsibilities to the North 

Cascades curator as a multi-park manager. This similarity should make the 

44 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
exchange of information between the programs seamless. At North 

Cascades National Park Service Complex, the data manager is the 

recipient of I&M project information conducted at Ebey’s Landing and 

San Juan as well as North Cascades. While North Cascades and San Juan 

have easily identifiable park boundaries, Ebey’s Landing National 

Historical Reserve poses some difficulty in determining what constitutes 

NPS property for origins of collections. This is because the I&M projects 

cover the entire Reserve and specimens might not have been collected 

from NPS property. While the information will be owned by the NPS, 

none of the specimens will be tracked in the NPS Museum Catalog 

system. 

This issue is most notable in botany forays and the existing agreement 

with the University of Washington herbarium. The agreement between the 

NPS and the herbarium states that, when possible, three specimens will be 

collected and prepared for the herbarium at Marblemount, UW, and 

another off-site location that has yet to be determined. Once the specimens 

have been prepared, the NPS will transfer ownership of the specimens to 

institutions that hold them. If NPS-permitted the collector determines that 

only one specimen should be collected, the primary repository will be at 

the University of Washington because of its ability to better accommodate 

researchers. A clause in the agreement also allows for the NPS to decide 

not to transfer threatened and endangered specimens in order to retain 

control over the dissemination of information regarding the location of 

that species. Aspects of this agreement still appear to be open for 

discussion and will not be covered in this MMP. 

As recommended by the curator, both the data manager and research 

advisor concur that the I&M data manager meetings would be a solid 

avenue for the curator to gain insight into the data handling topics being 

discussed at the network level as well as how the I&M program meshes 

with the museum program. The transfer of materials to the curation facility 

may first appear as a trivial detail since I&M data is backed up in another 

clearinghouse, but over a longer period of time the consistency of placing 

material in the curation facility will benefit the park. An obvious benefit is 

that the objects and their associated records will be preserved in a stable 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 45 
environment and will allow future researchers to build on this generation’s 

findings. 

The curator and data manager need to develop in-house procedures that 

define what I&M data will be transferred to the Marblemount Curation 

Facility. The level of data significance also needs to be addressed in the 

procedures so that incomplete or unnecessary data does not get cataloged 

into the museum system. 

Permits 

The permitting process service-wide has been difficult to manage in large 

part because of the time and funding necessary to appoint staff to act as a 

liaison between the park curator and the researcher. North Cascades, 

Ebey’s Landing, and San Juan are no different. A research advisor at 

North Cascades is involved with the permitting process, but research 

projects often take several years to complete. Many researchers do not 

have a solid understanding of catalog data requirements, year-end 

summary reports, and collection ownership by the NPS. 

In the past, each approved permit from the park was assigned an accession 

number for research data and objects that were expected to be 

incorporated into the overall collection. Some proposed research projects 

that were assigned permits were never started and did not generate any 

material. Consequently there was nothing to accession except the permit. 

This approach has changed so that accession numbers are now used 

peripherally for permit tracking. While the past approach may have been 

intended to keep the curator informed, the new approach will require a 

more active role. 

The curator’s role should include assessing what projects will generate 

material and act in some cases as park liaison responsible for contacting 

researchers concerning the transfer and storage of material. This active 

role is necessary to maintain some control over the condition in which 

material is delivered for curation. Curator involvement would make sure 

the park receives its property according to standards, and alleviate 

confusion researchers may have concerning their responsibilities. 

46 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
The curator and the research advisor concur that the network’s Permit 

Committee meetings would also benefit from curator involvement. An 

appropriate committee meeting agenda item would be the development of 

standard operating procedures for the network on how to address park 

curation needs and define how best to communicate those needs to the 

researcher. 

Compliance 

Other documentation projects not funded by the I&M program are likely 

to be conducted by park staff. This is especially true of cultural resource 

projects conducted for Section 106 and 110 compliance or for other 

inventory purposes. All NOCA compliance projects are tracked at North 

Cascades Headquarters, with a checklist of personnel who need to be 

involved and informed for each project. Neither the curator, nor the chief 

of cultural resources, nor the archeologist are listed as members of the 

Interdisciplinary Team (IDT). This information chain is not the best way 

to keep the curator updated on projects that may result in collection 

growth. While much of the IDT discussions concentrate on overall 

compliance and logistics, a well defined route should exist for the curator 

to find out what compliance projects will generate objects for the 

collection. This is needed not only for the planning and general 

management of the curation facilities, but also to ensure these projects are 

fully documented. An easy solution to the planning issue would be to 

include the curator as a signatory to the project clearance requests. 

Compliance at San Juan and Ebey’s Landing are more difficult to track at 

North Cascades since those park units act independently and usually use 

regional staff to clear their compliance projects. Also, no trained cultural 

resource field staff are located at the island parks to act as liaison between 

park activities and the curator. Both parks instead have resource staff 

responsible for informing the curator of projects that generate objects for 

the collection. This may be the clearest route for information to travel 

from the outlying parks to the curator, but better defined methods for these 

communication lines need to be outlined for the resource staff. Another 

approach would be to include the North Cascades curator as a signatory 

along with the regional reviewers. 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 47 
Archeology Records 

At North Cascades the archeology collection is likely to increase over the 

next few years due to salvage efforts during the Stehekin Road compliance 

and the Ross Lake Site data recovery project. While previous park survey 

projects have yielded few objects, the associated records such as field 

notes, photographs, maps, and site records are currently being processed. 

Some of these original records date back to the earliest park surveys and 

are beginning to deteriorate. For instance, field notes and maps that were 

written in pencil are being smudged because they have been used for 

references during following surveys. 

The Society of American Archaeologists lists the preservation of field 

notes as valuable primary data that require archival care, and that 

archeologists are responsible for ensuring that associated records are 

preserved. None of the three parks do this adequately. While the 

development of standard operating procedures could provide a roadmap 

for archeologists to follow in order to meet the record preservation 

requirements (see Issue A), a task force that includes network 

archeologists, curators, and regional staff needs to be formed to address 

the problem of missing or deteriorating field notes and records. 

Archeology Collection Culling 

Volume and preservation are problems in some of the existing collections. 

While the natural resource collection expansion appears to be thoughtful 

and controlled at this time, archeology collections will require attention in 

the near future. 

The archeology collections generated from surveys within North Cascades 

are generally well organized and maintained. These collections have been 

processed in a uniform way and are separated using the Smithsonian 

trinomial, making it easy to locate artifacts intuitively. As in all 

archeology collections, oversized bulk samples are housed separately. But 

the location information is accurate so this does not pose any significant 

problems with the North Cascades archeology collection. 

48 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
However, the two collections generated during compliance projects at 

Ebey’s Landing were collected without guidance from a Scope of 

Collection Statement for the park. Initially every object that was in the dirt 

was retained because the sediment was inspected by trail crew members 

instead of archeologists. The idea during this phase in the testing was that 

the objects would be sorted in the laboratory. 

Since historical archeologists from Fort Vancouver were the primary 

investigators during the second phase of testing, guidance from the Fort 

Vancouver collecting philosophy was used for all historic material. Many 

of the artifacts that were collected do not have stratigraphic provenance, 

and other objects, especially the metal, are deteriorating despite being 

housed in a stable environment. While the historic artifacts have been 

analyzed, the prehistoric artifacts and fire cracked rocks have yet to be 

studied and the sediment and botanical samples are not fully processed. 

This project is expected to be completed during fiscal year 2005. During 

the collaborative report writing period, the archeologists involved with the 

Ferry House compliance and testing project need to consult with the 

curator to determine how much of the artifactual material should be 

retained in the collection. 

San Juan archeology also has problems from over-collecting during the 

University of Washington archeology field school at English Camp. Field 

Operation D, an excavation block outside of the parade ground, is 

particularly oversized because collection methods were altered during the 

excavation season. The field directors opted to excavate more area with 

less processing in the field with the assumption that culling would happen 

in the laboratory during analysis. 

While much of the English Camp prehistoric material resides at the Burke, 

the Marblemount Curation Facility currently houses the historic artifacts 

and the bulk samples from the shell midden. The bulk samples take up a 

significant amount of space. This issue was recognized even during the 

time that the Burke Museum was storing them. The principal investigator 

and Burke collections manager listed what tasks need to be accomplished 

to make the collection ready for analysis and noted that the bulk samples 

could be significantly reduced. This plan of action needs to be revisited 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 49 
with input for culling from the principal investigator (see Appendix C, 

page 101). 

The University of Idaho-excavated collections of historic material from 

San Juan sites are harder to address concerning culling because they have 

all been processed, analyzed and properly housed. This issue tends to pit 

the preservation and research philosophy of archeologists against the 

preservation and operation philosophy of curators and collection 

managers. The topic is broached in a discussion paper Proactive 

Management of Archeological Collections (Appendix C) written by PWR 

Curator, Kent Bush. He states, “We have come to the point, however, 

where we need to be looking closely at what has been retained in the past, 

and what we want to retain in the future...” One of the suggested actions 

in the paper is, “archeological collections... need to be reviewed by a 

curator and archeologist team to determine whether the archeological 

collections at any given park could be improved, made more efficient, by 

judicial de-accessioning activities.” 

The collection of historic material from the San Juan sites offers an 

opportunity to develop some collecting protocols that may have 

application to this service-wide issue. While this may not be an immediate 

need for the operations of the North Cascades Marblemount Curation 

Facility, the basic truth is that the collections will continue to grow and 

that adequate storage space will be at a premium. This issue will be 

discussed in greater detail in the following section. 

Recommendations 

• Develop in-house procedures for the I&M specimens and records that 

outline employee responsibilities, collections transfer schedules, and 

criteria for project completion and data significance. 

• Develop standard operating procedures for the network that address 

curation of specimen collections. Include this as an agenda item at 

upcoming Permit Committee meetings and involve the park curator in 

these meetings. 

50 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
• Include the curator as a signatory to the North Cascades project 

clearance requests and to the Assessment of Effect (Triple X) forms 

for EBLA and SAJH. 

• Create a task force that includes network archeologists, curators, and 

regional staff to address the pervasive problem of inadequate care for 

primary records. 

• Process, assess, and cull the archaeology collections from EBLA and 

SAJH working with subject matter experts and principal investigators. 

• Make the park curator a full member of the IDT Team. 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 51 
Figure 3 San Juan Island historic archeology artifacts in storage 

52 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
Issue C—

Museum Facilities

Issue Statement 

Continued investment in the organization and growth of museum 

storage and work facilities is essential to the effective preservation 

and use of park museum object and archive collections. 

Background 

Adequate facilities for museum collections, including storage, work areas, 

and offices are critical for the professional management of these resources 

and their security and preservation. The National Park Service has 

established functional standards for museum spaces, as contained in the 

Checklist for Preservation and Protection of Museum Spaces. North 

Cascade’s investment in museum facilities has been an ongoing success 

and has provided museum space justified by the size and nature of its 

museum collections and operations. 

Museum facilities at North Cascades Complex consist of three storage 

locations and work spaces. The primary museum operation and storage is 

located at Marblemount where a facility was built (in the early 1990s) to 

house museum collections, work and laboratory space, and offices for the 

curator, chief of cultural resources, and archeological staff. The Newhalem 

Research Station is a research laboratory that also houses natural science 

specimens under development or actively used for research. The third 

storage location is in the basement of the recently renovated Golden West 

Lodge in the Stehekin district of Lake Chelan National Recreation Area. 

Marblemount 

The Marblemount curatorial building was under construction during the 

site visit of the 1994 Collection Management Plan. Various 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 53 
recommendations about the layout of the facility by the planning team 

were made and implemented. The facility appears to have had no major 

problems in its design or maintenance over the years, and is capable of 

meeting or exceeding most standards for the storage of museum 

collections. The rooms within the Marblemount curatorial facility are: 

 Laboratory 10 x 25 ft. NOCA Room 19 x 35 ft. 

 Supplies Storage 5 x 10 ft. SAJU Room 25 x 38 ft. 

 Loading Storage 12 x 12 ft. Processing 12 x 19 ft. 

 Work Area 15 x 31 ft. Restroom 6 x 10 ft. 

 Offices (3) 10 x 10 ft. Curator Office 9 x 11 ft. 

Table 2 Marblemount rooms and sizes 

The main storage room, currently called the NOCA room, is 665 square 

feet and has cabinets mounted on movable carriages consisting of six 

double-sided movable rows and one single-sided fixed end-row. An 

assessment was made of the present storage capacity of the movable 

cabinets, and out of 56 single-wide units, about 43% space remains for 

additional materials, or the equivalent of 24 cabinets. The capacity may 

appear to provide for many years of additional growth, except for the 

materials already waiting to be housed in cabinets. This includes the 

equivalent of about eight cabinets of geological specimens housed on the 

loading dock, which require processing and some culling before entering 

the NOCA room. The other materials awaiting re-housing into cabinets are 

24 Buckhorn plastic boxes with geology specimens that are stored on top 

of the cabinets. All of this geology material will easily require a minimum 

of 10 cabinets storage space. Currently, the EBLA collections require less 

than one standard museum cabinet for storage.

The curator has been intensively involved in reorganizing the arrangement 

of materials within the Spacesaver cabinets. Goals include storing similar 

collections together and incorporating new collections into appropriate 

spaces. 

54 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
Other collections in the NOCA room include the herbarium collection 

housed in six full-height and four half-height cabinets. Additional cabinets 

were purchased to accommodate the herbarium, as the standard for an 

herbarium cabinet is not to exceed 80% full, allowing adequate room for 

handling and some growth potential. Six half-height herbarium cabinets 

house the lichen and moss collections, and they average about 50% 

capacity at this time. An entomology cabinet has two drawers with insects; 

only about 10% of this cabinet is now in use. An unusual double-ended, 

no-door cabinet on wheels has various supplies and archeological 

reference collections. Its capacity was not reviewed as it does not 

represent quality storage space for permanent collections. 

The new addition to the Marblemount facility was constructed in 2001 and 

it added 950 square feet to the existing building, specifically to house the 

San Juan Island archeological collections. This SAJH room has a 

movable-aisle storage system with 36 double-wide cabinets. A review of 

these cabinets placed their capacity at close to 100% capacity. The true 

number may be closer to 90%, given small amounts of space here and 

there that may be available, but for management purposes very little space 

is available for new collections. Some additional storage space is located 

in fixed cabinets housing records and other related materials. These 

shelves have a small amount of expansion space. The room also has 71 

small, 106 medium, and 34 large Buckhorn boxes, suggesting that 

currently the room is at—or exceeds—its cabinet storage capacity. 

The processing room contains two computer workstations, fire-resistant 

safes for museum records, refrigerator for film, and holding space for preaccession processing. Forty boxes of archives for appraisal are currently 

being stored in this room. Little can be done to increase storage at this 

time—it is utilized to the maximum. 

The environmental control system consists of a heat pump HVAC system 

and in-room dehumidifiers. The heat pump was upgraded in 2004 as the 

unit installed had too low a capacity and became overworked. The in-room 

dehumidifiers are also somewhat smaller than is needed and require 

manual removal of accumulated water. 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 55 
The environment is monitored through the use of portable Datalogger 

units. In the past, hand-written spot recordings were made on log sheets. 

A large amount of Datalogger data was lost during a cyclic replacement of 

a desktop computer system when the data was not retrieved prior to 

computer replacement. Some printouts of this data survive, and allow 

some review of the environmental parameters within storage. 

Newhalem Research Station 

This facility is located in a Seattle City Light building that has recently 

undergone renovation and contains a high-quality laboratory and 

collection storage. The space will be addressed in this plan as a museum 

facility. Its access and control are the responsibility of scientists and 

resource managers, and most of the space is used for scientific lab work. 

The wet specimens and other materials stored here are housed in new 

museum specimen cabinets that meet or exceed service standards. 

Environmental data for the station was analyzed in 2002 in a document 

titled “Environmental History” (no source given). It addresses the problem 

of 12 degree fluctuation in temperature and 35% relative humidity (RH) 

fluctuation on a daily basis. After turning off the HVAC system, 

fluctuations dropped substantially to 3o

 F and 23% RH. While noting that 

the RH was still too high, it pointed to needed improvements for the 

mechanical system. After filter changes and the addition of heater 

components, the system performed much better. The control of the 

environment in this space is considered the most important consideration 

for the protection of the specimens, and should continue to be monitored. 

Stehekin 

The Golden West Lodge was constructed in 1927-28, some of it using 

parts from an even older building. By the 1990s the building was in need 

of major rehabilitation, which was completed in 2003. A room in the 

basement level has been designed and constructed as the museum storage 

room. It contains 350 sq. ft. in a single room with air conditioning, fire 

alarm, and sprinklers. At the time of the team visit, it was close to 

completion but still under construction with the floor covering yet to be 

56 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
laid. A variety of museum objects and some shelving and cabinets were 

stored there; storage equipment has yet to be installed. A plan for the 

access to this space ensures clearly defined security in this remote district. 

Occasionally, especially in the winter season, different staff members may 

be absent for long periods of time. The NOCA curator currently visits the 

district perhaps a total of two weeks annually. Adding moveable-aisle 

system cabinets to this room is justified for securing the objects before 

expansion space is needed. 

 Discussion 

The Marblemount curatorial building needs additional investment in staff 

time and funds to maintain the environment to NPS standards and 

maximize the efficient use of available space. The park should consider 

purchasing new dehumidifiers that can handle larger amounts of air 

humidity and can operate without manual water removal. Waterless 

systems such as Bry-Air units, or the installation of drainage tubes that can 

carry water away from the units directly to drain pipes will remedy this. 

Monitoring of all museum spaces should be continued, and equipment 

modernized to make data collection as automated as possible. 

The curator should continue to incorporate new collections and reorganize 

storage to maximize effective use of the space. Some culling of archives 

and archeology might free additional space, as discussed elsewhere in this 

plan. However, projects are also already identified that will generate new 

collections, perhaps of some substantial volumes (see Issues A and B on 

archives and scientific collections respectively). 

Within the five year planning scope of this plan it can be expected that the 

park will need to begin to plan and seek funding for a new addition to the 

Marblemount facility. The original facility cost $100,000 in 1992. The 

new addition required $ 208,000 in funding just two years ago for 950 sq. 

ft. At this point the planning team assumes that a 1,000 sq. ft. addition 

sometime in this decade will be justified by collections growth. At an 

estimated $250 per sq. ft. for construction, the cost will be in the 

neighborhood of $250,000. It may be possible to enlarge the facility even 

more, but the park should perform an analysis on the maximum size for 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 57 
this facility in a historic district before the building grows substantially in 

its footprint. 

The museum storage room at the Golden West Lodge is an important 

addition to the protection of objects and archives in the Stehekin District. 

This remote site justifies the need for this small but useful satellite of the 

museum program. The room needs to be reorganized in order to provide 

the zones of physical access appropriate to the user. The NOCA curator, 

and perhaps the park’s cultural resource manager, would have full access 

to all the collections. Other users might require access only to the general 

storage area (the front area near the door) to access the room’s 

environmental controls, to place pre-accession materials in the room for 

evaluation (such as boxes of park records), or to check on the overall 

security and well-being of the room itself after periods of power failure or 

snow melt. Emergency personnel might require access through a break 

box located at a central location for a one-time access. 

A series of discussions and meetings should be held to discuss all possible 

needs and permutations of access throughout the year. This appears to be 

exceptionally challenging during the winter when staffing levels are at 

their minimum and staff are sometimes gone for long periods of time, 

making it hard to predict which people will be in charge of the building. 

Whatever procedures are developed must be clear and adaptable, so they 

will ensure maintenance of safe and appropriate access controls. 

Recommendations 

• Purchase and install dehumidification equipment suitable to the space 

that does not require manual draining. 

• Consider installing hard-wired dataloggers linked to a computer that 

automatically collects environmental data. 

• Continue to upgrade storage cabinets and shelving, replacing old, 

inadequate, or unsuitable units. Continue reorganization of storage for 

efficient space usage and access. 

• Develop plans for a new addition to the Marblemount museum facility. 

Consider possible size, sites, and styles and complete compliance 

58 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
consultations well in advance of any funding. Request needed addition 

through PMIS. 

• Continue environmental monitoring in all museum spaces, especially 

in the Newhalem Research Station. Upgrade equipment with digital 

equipment as funding allows. 

• Complete the development of the museum room at the Golden West 

Lodge in Stehekin, including newly purchased cabinets and shelving. 

Consult on access needs and develop SOPs to address them 

realistically. 

• Work with Island County Historical Museum regarding opportunities 

for EBLA collection management. 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 59 
Figure 4 Backlog catalog storage 

 

60 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
Issue D— 

Museum Recordkeeping

Issue Statement 

Improvement of existing museum accession and catalog records 

will provide accountability and access to support collections use. 

Background 

Museum records in the National Park Service constitute the institutional 

knowledge essential to the use and protection of museum object and 

archive collections. They consist primarily of accession and catalog 

records, along with other program files on security, environment, and use. 

The North Cascades museum records were reviewed as part of this 

management plan, along with review of Ebey’s Landing and San Juan 

Island catalog records. 

Some understanding of NOCA museum records can be gained by referring 

to the “History of Museum Collections” section in this plan. The growth 

of museum collections inevitably involves gathering information on their 

source, identity, and condition. Much of the early growth of collections 

involved somewhat limited, and in some cases flawed, documentation of 

the objects and records. In perhaps the majority of instances, at least for 

historical collections, information on the source of creation and/or use was 

missing and little or nothing was documented about why artifacts were 

deemed worthy of accessioning. 

Accession Records 

Accessioning is the process of bringing objects into the park’s museum 

collection and documenting their legal ownership and history or 

provenance. The decision to acquire museum collections involves an 

appraisal of whether the materials fit within the park’s Scope of Collection 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 61 
Statement (SOCS) and are worthy of preservation in perpetuity. The park 

has a draft SOCS that improves upon the current approved document. 

Materials to be accessioned may be legally mandated to remain federal 

property, as is the case for archeological collections covered under the 

Archeological Resources Protection Act. Other materials, such as most 

historical artifacts, are discretionary as to whether they serve the mission 

of the park and should be acquired as permanent cultural property. 

Accessioning is perhaps the most essential step in documenting museum 

collections. Ensuring that the NPS has clear legal title can often be done 

only at the point of accessioning. Information on the provenance of 

materials is often obtained orally or through the context of acquisition. If it 

is not written out in the accession records, this information may be lost. 

The NPS museum recordkeeping system is designed primarily for inhouse use by staff. Recent changes in scientific research permits for 

outside researchers have increased the ability to track specimens that 

continue to belong to the NPS and often must be accessioned and 

cataloged offsite at a university or museum (see Issue B on scientific 

collections). This presents a challenge to the museum program in both 

coordination and database compatibility and transferability with outside 

institutions. As part of an ongoing developmental process service-wide, 

NOCA is seeking to improve its capabilities and streamline the process. 

The North Cascades museum collection contains a wide variety of 

significant collections of archival, historical, archeological, biological and 

geological collections. A review of the Accession Book and Accession 

Files found that overall, the park has met NPS standards for accessioning 

collections for the majority of accessions. Problems remain, however; 

some can be corrected and others cannot. A summary of observations 

includes: 

• A number of accession file folders are empty, and do not support 

legal title or accountability requirements. (Ex: NOCA-592, 613-

615) 

• Some changes in the total number of accessioned materials have 

been made just through annotations, which do not meet NPS 

62 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
standards. (Ex: NOCA-502, sub-sampling of old magazine 

collection through marking a black dot next to items to be retained 

on object list) 

• Inadequate description of materials, such as lack of quantities or 

item counts, or object listings, or descriptions of materials’ 

significance. (Ex: NOCA-611 where newspaper clippings are 

linked to individuals not named in accession database) 

• Almost a total lack of documentation of an appraisal or evaluation 

process that describes significance, valuation, rarity, or intrinsic 

value of collections. In one instance appraised values are 

documented for an incoming loan but no documentation of the 

source is recorded. (NOCA-507) 

Loans to and from North Cascades consist of only a few current active 

loans coming into the park and one going out. A loan into the park 

includes some of the collections of the Buckner Homestead and is 

discussed in Issue E covering the Buckner property. Other loans include 

the EBLA and SAJH collections. Most loans’ materials are up to date but 

some, such as Buckner, require renewal. 

Catalog Records 

Cataloging objects and archives produces a specific record of information 

linked to descriptions and identification of individual items and/or series 

and groups of items. Once cataloged, museum materials are considered to 

be fully documented, with exceptions made for items that may justify 

further research or appraisal. The NOCA curator maintains ANCS+ 

catalog records for three park units: North Cascades, Ebey’s Landing, and 

San Juan Island, identical to those for accession records. 

Table 3 provides a summary of catalog records and item counts currently 

in the ANCS+ database. Any discrepancies in the total amounts between 

Table 3 and the Collection Management Report data may be explained, in 

part, by the information coming from different dates and records that are 

not yet in the database. Many reasons explain why these two counts 

exhibit differences. There may be errors, but at this level of review such 

mistakes cannot easily be detected. After all cataloging is completed and 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 63 
initial estimates are replaced with accurate counts, final reconciliation 

should be possible. At this time all catalog and accession data are 

undergoing review. 

Some catalog records in the past have been lost (See History of the 

Museum Collection). Backups are now performed on a regular basis at the 

park. The park curator needs to work with outside partners and parks to 

assist with data backup and recovery needs. 

NOCA EBLA SAJH 

DISCIPLINE 

Total 

Records 

Item 

Count 

Total 

Records

Item 

Count 

Total 

Records 

Item 

Count 

Archeology 3,621 61,872 1,800 18,190 104,292 374,509 

Ethnology 2 2 0 0 0 0

History 1,658 2,922 0 0 269 329 

Archival / 

Manuscript 275 4,917 0 0 785 523.1LF* 

Biology 9,994 17,702 0 0 494 1,681 

Geology 1203 1303 0 0 28 28 

Paleontology 1 1 0 0 39 309 

Totals: 16,754 88,719 1,800 18,190 105,907 376,856 

Table 3 Total catalog records and item counts for three parks by discipline (as listed by 

report from ANCS+ database on 8/6/04) * This number is in linear feet (corresponds to 

836,960 pages), and is not included in the sum. 

Discussion 

The two pillars that any museum program depends upon are proper 

storage and good recordkeeping. Storage is essential to preservation and 

protection, and allows physical access to the collections. Recordkeeping is 

essential for knowing what you have, its source, significance, and history, 

and allows intellectual access to the information. However, neither of 

these two essential pillars determines the significance and value of 

museum object and archive collections. The development of high quality 

64 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
collections is achieved through a professional accessioning process that 

evaluates potential collections for their suitability for addition to the park’s 

permanent resources. 

Accessioning at North Cascades has, for the most part, been performed to 

service-wide standards. Documentary deficiencies described herein can in 

most cases be rectified with additions and/or improvements to the records. 

A thorough comparison of information in the Accession Book, Accession 

File, and ANCS+ should be performed to ensure accuracy and consistency 

across these records. 

One major needed improvement is documentation of the evaluation 

criteria and the values and conditions assessments made during the 

acquisition process. Simply put, in looking at the current accession 

records, one cannot tell the reasons materials were added to the collection. 

Was the decision made on the basis of the material’s exhibit potential, 

research value, uniqueness, rarity, link to important themes, places, or 

individuals? Who recommended the material be accessioned? Who 

provided an opinion as to its importance or inherent qualities? These 

attributes need to be documented, as well as the opinions and decisions of 

park specialists, managers, experts, and private individuals—whoever has 

provided information and assessments. 

The decision to accession materials can be shared and arranged in either 

formal or informal procedures. One formal technique is the establishment 

of an accessions committee as described in the NPS Museum Handbook 

Part II. The committee would meet on a regular basis or as needed to 

evaluate possible additions to the collections, and document the decisionmaking process. The park may not need a formal committee at this time, 

given the low volume and lack of complexity of accessions. Nevertheless, 

the park does need to clarify the steps of the decision-making process and 

the staff positions involved. The two signatures on the park’s Accession 

Receiving Report should reflect these steps. 

Accessioning materials of questionable value has occurred in the past. 

Examples include published books of recent vintage, magazines, and NPS 

publications accessioned into the park archives. These items should be 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 65 
classified as library or reference materials, not museum archives 

(exceptions exist based upon professional appraisals, but they do not apply 

here). Archives would be addressed during the survey process as described 

in Issue A. 

Other property under discussion for culling includes extensive 

archeological collections (see Issue B, page 93 and Appendix C, page 

101). Buckner Homestead historical items have been discussed as possible 

landscape features rather than museum artifacts (see Issue E). A variety of 

historical items of questionable condition or provenance have been 

observed in the collection, but the extent at this time is unknown without 

further research and assessment. 

It is not feasible to simultaneously evaluate a large and diverse group of 

materials for de-accessioning. As the park curator is able to group 

materials for such an evaluation, they can be processed in lots of similar 

items. An important management consideration is that de-accession of 

materials known to have been lost, destroyed, or inappropriate to the 

collection should not be delayed through procrastination and sloth—

museum collections are expensive to store, document, and preserve. The 

park has limited space and staff time to care for its valuable collections. 

Inappropriate materials and those beyond recovery (decay is too advanced 

to justify treatment) take their toll in real costs to the NPS. Progress on 

this goal should be an annual accomplishment work goal, with support 

from the Regional Office CRM staff. 

The park has made progress on cataloging its backlog. NOCA’s 

Collection Management Report (2003) shows some 27,400 items in its 

backlog which is approximately 20% of its total collection count. This 

year’s work by the NOCA curator includes the following catalog records 

recorded in ANCS+: 

NOCA Cultural 2,055 

NOCA Natural 150 

SAJH Cultural 23 

SAJH Natural 19 

EBLA Cultural 800 

66 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
The number of the total objects cataloged is a moving target. As new 

materials are accessioned and then cataloged, the percentage may shift 

higher or lower. The objective is to completely document the collections. 

While this is rarely achieved in practice, without continual effort the 

amount of backlog can grow substantially. For this reason, the NPS has a 

policy that all projects that generate collections budget for their curation 

and data entry. 

A review of older catalog records shows that primarily the cultural 

resource records would benefit from updating. The natural history records 

need little in the way of updating, largely as a result of the systematic 

manner in which biologists record field data. However, given the effort to 

catalog backlog and the large number of older records, most parks 

recognize their inability to make headway in updating until such time as 

new service-wide updates are funded on a project basis. Still, the curator 

can and should make occasional updates as time and attention allow. (See 

discussion in Issue F on planning, programming, and staffing). 

The park curator is taking adequate steps to ensure that electronic records 

are backed up electronically on a regular basis. The park can and should 

develop standards for parks and partners to create and/or maintain ANCS+ 

records backups that are delivered to the NOCA curator for inspection and 

protection. 

Both Ebey’s Landing and San Juan Island have letters of agreement signed 

in 2004 that delineate responsibilities for curation and storage of 

collections at the Marblemount facility. These letters establish the NOCA 

curator position as curator-of-record serving the other two parks. NOCA 

should develop standard operating procedures that describe how approval 

and processing of accessions will occur, the access to and maintenance of 

ANCS+ database, and backup and security procedures. The need for 

changes from current practices is not anticipated, but a written SOP will 

help managers and staff understand roles and functions, and orient and 

educate new staff. 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 67 
Recommendations 

• Complete accession records to the fullest extent possible. Ensure that 

every accession has an Accession Receiving Report and List of 

Objects. Renew loans that have passed their expiration date. 

• Develop an acquisition evaluation process that includes documenting 

the reasons that materials have been accepted into the collection. 

Delineate signature authorities and the decision-making process. 

• De-accession inappropriate objects and archives as soon as possible. 

Procrastination has a real and substantial cost. 

• Complete backlog cataloging, using project funds where necessary. 

• Re-catalog materials where needed. Incremental changes may be made 

when items are handled or studied for other purposes. Larger projects 

will require additional staff or funding. 

• Continue backing up ANCS+ databases. Work with parks and partners 

to establish data security standards. 

• Develop standard operating procedures for recordkeeping across the 

three parks for which records are maintained by the NOCA curator. 

Figure 5 Buckner Homestead farm vehicle 

68 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
Issue E— 

Buckner Homestead 

Cultural Resources

Issue Statement 

A comprehensive plan is required for the preservation and 

management of cultural resources at this site. 

Background 

Acquired by the National Park Service in 1970, the Buckner Homestead 

Historic District is located at the head of Lake Chelan in the Lake Chelan 

National Recreation Area (LACH) of the North Cascades National Park 

Service Complex (NOCA). Listed on the National Register of Historic 

Places, the Homestead is a locally significant cultural resource. It 

constitutes a physical record of the development of the entrepreneurial 

farming, mining, timber, and trapping industries that laid the foundations 

characteristic of rural mountain communities and economies of the interior 

Pacific Northwest. The 90-acre district includes over 200 apple trees, hay 

fields, pastures, about 50 pieces of farm equipment, hundreds of artifacts, 

and many buildings and structures built over the past 100 years. 

While originally homesteaded by Bill Buzzard, the indelible character of 

the present homestead was determined by 70 subsequent years of work 

and play by the Buckner family. During that time the homestead was 

constantly evolving in innovative ways to remain in commercial 

operation; no single period of its existence best characterizes the resource. 

No longer functioning as a commercial homestead/orchard, the resource 

continues as a constantly evolving interpretive site, a community gathering 

place, and a park employee housing unit. Consequently, preservation is a 

challenge, especially when isolation, environment, and lack of staff and 

funds are factored into the program as well. 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 69 
Over the years a number of documents and plans have been completed for 

NOCA and include mention of the Buckner Homestead. Relevant 

documents are included in the park reference section of the bibliography. 

The NOCA museum collection currently has five accessions related to the 

Buckner Homestead. This section will discuss only two—the materials 

actually acquired when the park purchased the Weaver property (LACH00001, NOCA-00502), and the 45 items loaned by the Buckner sisters in 

1988 (LACH-00012, NOCA-00507). Museum collections have specific 

preservation requirements that are currently not possible at the Buckner 

Homestead. Presently many artifacts in these accessions are located 

outside in the landscape, with only a few exceptions located inside historic 

structures. 

As documented by photographs taken ca 1987-1988 and 2003, the objects 

have drastically deteriorated despite conservation work on several items 

and construction of shed roofs over others. In fact, the shed roofs have 

exacerbated the problem in at least one case by collapsing under an 

abnormally heavy snowfall and crushing the object it was protecting. The 

workshop has many objects remaining from the homestead days which are 

not accessioned. In addition, the NPS has moved maintenance tools and 

equipment and interpretive objects into it. This space is open for the 

visitor to discover, and the co-mingling of possible historic artifacts with 

contemporary tools adds no value to the historic site. 

The Buckner Homestead Historic District Final Management Plan

outlined the processes for identifying the objects to be permanently 

acquired from the Buckner sisters, and for their long-term preservation 

and interpretation. But this part of the plan has not been implemented. 

The park has not identified these objects and has not implemented a 

conservation and maintenance plan for their care. The parts of the plan 

that have been implemented are related to the historic structures and the 

orchard. 

The park is currently investing about $30,000 to $35,000 per year from a 

combination of ONPS funding and NPS Cultural Cyclic Maintenance 

funding to manage the apple orchard. The management of the orchard is 

70 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
done by a term horticulturist who works about nine or ten months per year. 

The park curator is only able to spend about two weeks per year dealing 

with all the issues at Stehekin, including the items currently identified as 

museum objects located at the Homestead. 

Under the auspices of Washington's National Park Fund, the Buckner 

Homestead Heritage Foundation was established to fundraise for special 

projects at the Buckner Homestead. This group is comprised of members 

of the Buckner family, the Stehekin community, and non-voting NPS 

liaisons. They have raised funds for the reconstruction of the apple 

packing shed. 

Discussion 

Although the park has an approved plan for the Buckner Homestead, 

Buckner Homestead Historic District Final Management Plan, only the 

rehabilitation of the apple orchard and irrigation system, and maintenance 

of the historic structures has been implemented. One possible reason for 

the failure of previous preservation efforts and resulting deterioration of 

cultural resources has been the lack of consistent and adequate staffing 

and funding to implement that plan. Planning and management efforts 

have been conceived, funded, and implemented for the most part by single 

divisions or branches of park staff, rather than the park as a whole. 

As part of the in-briefing for this Museum Management Plan, the 

superintendent asked the MMP team if they would comment on the 

appropriateness of efforts to preserve the historic orchard. The MMP team 

did not feel qualified to address the orchard in isolation. However, the 

following discussion and recommendations will attempt to provide that 

guidance from a cultural resource and collection management perspective 

for the Buckner Homestead in total. 

The museum management program at the park has been attempting to 

maintain collections as “museum property." The park will not be able to 

provide even the basic levels of security and preservation required for the 

management of museum collections at the site of the Buckner Homestead. 

Even if the park had the required funding and staff, the necessary 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 71 
structures and technology would alter the site so as to destroy its value as a 

historic district and cultural landscape. 

Without this intervention, the objects at the site will continue to 

deteriorate, will continue to disappear by theft, and will continue to be 

moved from place to place, thus continuing to alter the historic appearance 

of the site. 

It is possible to maintain the historic structures at the site, mostly through 

the application of specific funding sources, such as Cultural Cyclic 

Maintenance. Cultural Cyclic Maintenance funds may also be used for the 

preservation maintenance of large machinery items, and this option could 

be extended to cover much of the material at the site. Documentation and 

recording of these resources is required, followed by a schedule for 

preservation treatment. 

In order to preserve the buildings and the landscape, the 1998 management 

plan must be updated. A Cultural Landscape Report (CLR) is needed to 

complete the documentation and establish a treatment plan for the area as 

a whole. A grid-applied documentation of the machinery and tools at the 

Homestead should be central to the CLR, and include treatment plans for 

these major items and concentrations of smaller materials. 

This is a slightly different application of the Cultural Landscape Report 

approach, and will require the addition of specialists not generally 

associated with this effort. In addition to the cultural landscape architect, 

the following specialists should be included: an historical archeologist to 

assist with the mapping and documentation of materials; an historical 

architect to address the historic structures; an historical agricultural curator 

to assist with identification of specialized machinery, tools and work 

areas; a conservator to suggest long term preservation methodologies; and 

an historic orchard specialist. A health and safety specialist should be 

included to address those concerns as well. The various natural resource 

and interpretive specialists working at the park also need to be consulted, 

and information concerning their various projects related to this district 

should be included in the CLR. Last but not least, the Buckner family and 

other representatives of the Stehekin community should be consulted. 

72 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
The end product of such an effort would be both a full documentation of 

all the associated parts of the resource, and a series of interlocking plans 

for the maintenance and preservation of the Buckner Homestead as a 

whole. Not only would such an effort address the preservation needs, but 

would concentrate all known information concerning this resource in one 

document. This would have obvious benefits for both management and 

interpretation efforts. 

In order to complete the CLR, a PMIS project statement should be 

completed. The cultural landscape program staff in the Pacific West 

Regional Office can provide assistance in drafting the statement as well as 

in estimating the total cost. The Cultural Resource Preservation Program 

(CRPP) Base requests for FY 2006 will be prioritized in February 2005. 

Although the park has prioritized a number of projects for the next five 

years for CRPP Base, the need for action on the Buckner Homestead 

would suggest that this request might be pushed to the top of the list. The 

combined call will be coming out soon; a new PMIS project statement 

should be prepared and proposed for FY 2006 funding. 

In the interim, ongoing maintenance should be continued. A plan to 

remove vegetation from around objects to reduce the continued 

deterioration should be developed. This would also allow the objects to 

dry out during the summer, which will assist in some additional 

preservation. The objects that are currently listed as museum property 

should be de-accessioned and then managed as park property. The items in 

the workshop should be evaluated to identify those that should be placed 

in the park collection, in storage, or on display in park museum exhibits. 

The remainder should be removed from the park, and the building used for 

park maintenance activities and closed to the public. 

Conclusion 

A strict museum approach to the preservation and management of 

resources at the Buckner Homestead is impossible due to the condition of 

the objects, lack of funding and staff, and the factors of distance, 

environment, National Register status, and working nature of the current 

operations. Other cultural resource management and interpretative 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 73 
approaches have failed for the same reason. Since it is not possible to 

apply museum standards to the management of these resources on site, 

continued efforts in this manner are wasteful and counterproductive. 

The park should build on the current documentation that is in place, and 

develop a holistic approach to the management of these resources. The 

best way to do that would be through a Cultural Landscape Report and 

associated treatment plans created by a group of specialists using the 

methodologies of their varied disciplines. In this manner all the needs of 

the Buckner Homestead will be considered jointly, and treatments can be 

applied that will benefit the preservation of the total resource rather than 

isolated segments. 

Recommendations 

• Complete a PMIS statement to be funded out of CRPP Base for FY 

2007 for a Cultural Landscape Report for the Buckner Homestead that 

will address the full range of preservation concerns. 

• Provide maintenance to the site and artifacts until the CLR is 

completed by continuation of current practices and by removal of 

vegetation around objects in order to slow the deterioration. 

• Update the loan agreement with Buckner family but manage the 

objects as park property rather than museum collections. 

• Arrange for donation of the items identified in the plan and for 

removal of those not when the CLR has been completed and approved. 

• De-accession those cataloged items that are at the site and transfer 

those that are remaining to park property records. 

74 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
Issue F— 

Planning, Programming, 

and Staffing 

Issue Statement 

Management of the museum object and archive collections requires 

an integrated approach by trained and professional staff to plan, 

budget, and implement successful programs that support park 

operations. 

Background 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex has a museum collection 

of about 170,000 items. From the beginning of the park until 1988, the 

museum collection was managed by collateral duty staff with occasional 

temporary museum technicians under the Division of Interpretation. In 

that year the management of the collection was assumed by the Resource 

Management Division. As a result of the 1994 Collection Management 

Plan and the NPS reorganization, in 1995 the park created a branch of 

cultural resources under the Resource Management Division. Two Pacific 

Northwest Region employees assigned to North Cascades were transferred 

to the park and a permanent subject-to-furlough museum technician 

position was created. This position is now a GS-1015-11 museum curator 

and currently subject-to-furlough with only 13 pay periods of funding 

available from NOCA base. 

In FY 2004 the NOCA base budget is $5,785,900, of which about 23% or 

$1,256,700 is established for Resource Management. These figures 

include the Cultural Resources Branch: $191,175 for 2.46 FTE, reflecting 

the natural resource priority in a park created for wilderness values. The 

growth of natural collections and field records because of the recent 

emphasis on inventory and monitoring has increased the workload for the 

curator. 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 75 
In 1995 the NOCA curator became the curator-of-record for San Juan 

Island National Historical Park (SAJH) and in 2004 for Ebey's Landing 

National Historical Reserve (EBLA). The archeological collections from 

these parks are stored at the NOCA Marblemount facility. In addition, the 

Burke Museum at the University of Washington has a large prehistoric 

archeological collection from SAJH. The NOCA curator provides 

oversight and contact on these items with the Burke Museum archeology 

section staff. In FY 2004 SAJH provided $13,000 in base funds for 

museum management while EBLA provided $1600. The remainder of the 

NOCA curator's funding comes from a variety of project funds including 

Backlog Cataloging, Museum Collections Preservation and Protection 

Program, archeology projects, and various natural resource project funds 

from all three parks. In FY 2004 the curator has managed to find funding 

for the entire fiscal year; however, this searching for funds takes time 

away from museum work and can be demoralizing. 

These funds provide for individual projects to be completed. But they do 

not allow the park to expand the museum management program to 

adequately address the needs of both park staff and the public for access, 

or for the on-going preservation and protection of the museum and 

archival collections. At the present time the museum curator is permanent 

subject-to-furlough. There are no Operations Formulation System (OFS) 

requests for a base increase for the museum management program for 

NOCA. 

San Juan Island National Historical Park has a museum object and archive 

collection of over one million items, primarily archeological. Two-thirds 

of the objects are located at the Burke Museum. But the Marblemount 

facility at NOCA houses one-third of the material and the NOCA curator 

manages the collections and all the recordkeeping. As noted above, in FY 

2004 SAJH provided $13,000 in base funds and additional project funds of 

$10,000 from the Backlog Catalog program. When the agreement between 

NOCA and SAJH was first initiated, the agreement was for SAJH to 

provide $10,000 per year. At that time the funds paid for half the year of 

the park curator (due to lower grade). However, in the ten years since then, 

costs have gone up significantly but the amount that SAJH has been able 

76 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
to provide has not kept pace. SAJH does have an Operations Formulation 

System (OFS) request (10622A: Multi-park request: Meet Curatorial 

Needs for SAJH/NOCA) at priority four to increase the funding for the 

museum program. If received, this funding would convert the NOCA 

curator to full time, hire a subject-to-furlough museum technician, and 

provide support funds for supplies, travel, and professional development. 

At Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve, initial planning provided 

for NPS to own very little land in the reserve and accomplishing programs 

through partnerships. As a partnership park unit, the reserve was not 

expected to collect museum objects and archive collections. However, a 

series of events in the late 1990s and early 2000s led to the purchase and 

donation of several pieces of property which included historic structures in 

need of stabilization. As part of this work, archeological excavations were 

required and an archeological collection was created. These materials are 

located at the Marblemount facility at NOCA. 

The North Coast and Cascades Network has a number of journeymanlevel curators. As the network management grows, these professional staff 

can support each other and provide differing strengths. The network does 

not have, however, an archivist (GS-1420-11). Archival collections are the 

fastest growing collections in the National Park Service and, in some 

cases, provide the only documentation of research that is happening or has 

happened in the parks. The need for follow-up on the research and 

collecting permits that have been issued for the parks is also growing. A 

partnership with the network data managers is a critical need for the 

museum program, and a museum technician (GS-1016-07) would provide 

that support. 

Discussion 

The museum program crosses many disciplines and subject areas. North 

Cascades National Park, Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve, San 

Juan Island National Historical Park, and the North Coast and Cascades 

Network must continue to take an aggressive approach to long-range 

planning for the effective development of the museum management 

program's budget, and staff necessary to preserve its resources and 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 77 
complete its missions. A proactive approach to necessary planning and 

programming will allow the staff to complete work that will help preserve 

park resources and educate the public. 

It is important to maintain perspective and to determine how resource 

management activities support the overall missions and goals of the park 

in planning for all resource preservation. The resources that make up the 

museum object and archive collections constitute documentary evidence 

of park resource management activities and the administrative decisions 

affecting them. Park museum collections are primary resources and 

comprise the park's institutional memory. From the perspective of this 

planning team, the museum management program should serve four 

distinct functions within the park: documentation; preservation; research; 

and education and public programs. 

The museum curator has the primary responsibility for producing the 

planning, programming, and reporting necessary to ensure that the primary 

functions mentioned above are adequately staffed, funded, and performed. 

To achieve this goal, the interrelationships of the various reporting and 

planning documents must be considered. These include the Collection 

Management Report (CMR), the Checklist for the Preservation and 

Protection of Museum Collections (Checklist), the Resource Management 

Plan (RMP), the Project Management Information System (PMIS), 

Operations Formulation Systems (OFS), and various program-specific 

documents. By understanding these relationships, the curator can produce 

effective programming documents that will secure funding from available 

sources. Although the Museum Handbook, Parts I, II, and III, provide 

overall guidance for the NPS museum program, the museum staff needs to 

bring their professional expertise to addressing the needs of museum 

collections. 

The documentation of time and costs to the museum management program 

for individual elements of the four primary functions mentioned above is 

an essential element of planning and programming. Increasingly, park 

managers are asked to show "value received for value given" in their 

operations. The response "to comply with regulations" is often not 

sufficient justification for funding in today's climate of lean budgets and 

78 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
reduced staff. Sometimes it is difficult for the non-specialist reviewing 

budget requests to perceive exactly what the "value received" to the park 

actually is, so illustrations of "value" in planning documents, budget 

requests, and reports must be overt and proactive. 

The park curator and the chief of the Cultural Resources Branch should 

complete a cost analysis for both the current and projected activities of the 

branch as a means to establish credibility for the management of park 

museum collections. Some very basic time and cost analysis questions 

might include: 

• How many accessions have been processed over the past three years? 

• Is the rate of new accessions entering the collections increasing or 

decreasing? 

• Is the park keeping up with basic registration, or is a backlog being 

created? 

• What is the average time/cost to process an accession? 

• What is the average time/cost to catalog an object? 

• What is the time/cost to provide Integrated Pest Management (IPM), 

preventive maintenance, and environmental monitoring per year? 

• What is the time/cost to provide storage/inventory per cubic foot of 

storage per year? 

• How many requests for research access to the collections are received 

each year from both staff and public, and what is the time/cost per 

request to provide that access? 

• Have the requests for access increased or decreased over the past three 

years? 

• Have collections and/or documentation been used for educational 

purposes? 

After the staff collects, analyzes, and formats these types of data for 

preservation, park management will begin to recognize the direct costs 

associated with various facets of collection management and to determine 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 79 
whether essential work is being accomplished in a timely manner. With 

these data, park staff will be able to develop effective, integrated programs 

to identify, program for, and meet park needs. The data will also document 

where project or temporary staff may be necessary to accomplish 

backlogged work or to make the overall program more efficient. Finally, 

this information will provide the foundation and documentation for 

establishing appropriate staffing levels, both in numbers of positions and 

grade levels. 

The parks should seek additional funding sources for curatorial projects to 

provide needed assistance in cataloging and museum collection 

management. The parks' cooperating association, Northwest Interpretive 

Association (NWIA), Washington's National Parks Fund, and local 

foundation offices should be approached with specific project requests 

tailored to organizational interests. 

A number of graduate programs, including a museum program at the 

University of Washington, may provide interns to do professional level 

museum project work under the direction of other museum professionals. 

The American Association of Museums has a list of such accredited 

programs. The NPS has a cooperative agreement with the National 

Council for Preservation Education that provides a clearinghouse for 

interns from appropriate college and university programs for parks. 

Finally, the American Institute for Conservation has a list of conservation 

programs. 

If free housing could be found, perhaps free or nearly free interns with 

professional training to work on specific projects at the park could also be 

found. Stipends can be funded with project money or even through support 

from the PNIA. The Pacific West Region museum management staff, the 

Museum Management Program in WASO, the Western Archeological and 

Conservation Center (WACC), and the Division of Conservation at 

Harpers Ferry Center may provide assistance, recommendations, and 

additional oversight, if needed. 

As an essential part of park operations, the museum management program 

should have a separate ONPS budget in addition to project funds. This will 

80 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
allow program identification and tracking of funds required and spent for 

the preservation of park-specific resources. If the network-based museum 

management program is carried out, appropriate levels of increased base 

funding could be managed by the network in collaboration with the three 

parks’ chiefs of resources management. 

Once project(s) are completed to deal with the backlog need (as 

documented throughout this plan), the NOCA Museum Management 

Program does not appear to need a full-time archivist (GS-1420-11) onsite but could rely upon the services of a network archivist (which might 

be located at NOCA). Perhaps the parks could explore using natural 

resource funds to assist with the museum technician (GS-1016-07) 

position, which could also assume the permit function for the parks. This 

would allow the science advisor currently involved in permitting issues 

greater time for project work. Such a strategy would undoubtedly also help 

to ensure that natural resources collections issues are addressed during 

planning and programming for research projects. 

The park might also investigate partnership opportunities with other 

federal agencies (U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management), local 

and regional agencies, or non-governmental agencies. As the management 

of public lands moves further towards management of ecosystems rather 

than by the artificial political boundaries, it becomes more efficient for all 

concerned to manage resources in a more holistic manner. This would also 

make it easier for outside researchers who could do "one-stop-shopping" 

rather than having to go to a number of different locations. 

The parks are in various stages of planning. EBLA and SAJH are in the 

General Management Plan (GMP) process. NOCA has a GMP for North 

Cascades National Park, Ross Lake National Recreation Area, and Lake 

Chelan National Recreation (1988), and a separate Lake Chelan Final 

General Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement (1995). 

The museum management program is not adequately addressed in either 

NOCA plan but the curator has been participating in the planning for 

SAJH. 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 81 
NOCA does not have a Long Range Interpretive Plan (LRIP) although one 

has been begun by park staff. The current Interpretive Prospectus (1990) 

is considered very out of date. A coherent program of use of the museum 

collection in exhibits is not identified in the plan. The Cultural Resources 

Branch and the park curator have not been participating in the planning for 

the LRIP. In order to integrate the museum management program into the 

interpretive program, it is important for them to be a part of the planning 

effort. No LRIP is available for EBLA. 

The NOCA Resource Management Plan (RMP) was last updated in 1999 

and contains a number of project statements related to the museum 

program; these are reflected in the park's PMIS program. However, the 

narrative does not provide a roadmap for managing these important 

resources but rather a history of what has occurred. 

The entire SAJH RMP (c. 1993) was not available for review but one 

project statement was provided. EBLA has an RMP that was approved in 

1995 and updated in 1999. It has not been updated since 1999 because the 

software hasn’t been available. Once new RMP guidance is received, the 

museum management program should be an integral part of the narrative 

plan as well as the programming documents that support that plan. 

As the museum management program is organizationally located in the 

Resources Management Division, it is in a unique position to ensure that 

natural resources collections are addressed during planning and 

programming. This includes the projects that will be on-going in the 

inventory and monitoring program as well as those in network programs. 

In addition, the Cultural Resources Branch includes the park archeologist. 

Planning for archeological projects must from their beginning consider the 

cataloging, storage, and conservation of collections. These issues are 

discussed in greater depth in Issue B. 

Currently, the parks have a number of statements for museum needs in 

PMIS but they do not truly comprise a coherent five-year outline for the 

combined museum management program for each park. This plan 

provides some guidance for such a program. 

82 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
Two other critical reporting documents provide data for managing the 

park's museum collections as well as identifying funding needs: the 

Checklist for Preservation and Protection of Museum Collections and the 

Collection Management Report (CMR). 

The Checklist for Preservation and Protection of Museum Collections 

(Checklist) is an important document from several different viewpoints: 

• It establishes the standards under which park museum collections are 

maintained and against which the park evaluates it. 

• It documents the preservation of the park museum collections at a 

particular point in time. 

• It determines the funding needed to bring a museum collection to 

standard. 

The Checklist is divided by facility and type, i.e., a structure that holds 

both exhibit and storage would have two checklists. The park must 

complete and/or update this document on an annual basis. The Museum 

Collection Preservation and Protection Program (MCPPP) funding is 

based on the data received from park Checklists. Thus, their careful 

completion is critical to adequately estimate the needs of the parks. The 

service-wide funding is divided by a formula based on total needs for each 

of the seven NPS regions. Every four years this funding is adjusted based 

on the most current data so the data must be accurately reflective of 

present needs. 

The Collection Management Report provides a statistical overview of the 

park's present collection. It provides park staff and management, as well as 

the region and the service-wide programs with information on size and 

type of collection; the growth of the collection over time; documentation 

of use; and identification of uncataloged backlog. This latter is critical as it 

relates to funding. The service-wide Backlog Catalog Program fund 

distribution is based on this report so it must accurately reflect the total 

park collection, especially with regard to the uncataloged backlog. As 

noted for MCPPP, reallocation and distribution of these funds is based on 

the backlog reported on the CMR. 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 83 
Although all three parks report a backlog on their 2003 CMRs, the MMP 

team noted a backlog of materials, especially archives, which is not 

accessioned and thus not reported in the backlog. Until these materials are 

accessioned, the parks do not have an accurate record of its backlog and is 

unable to receive funds to process and catalog these materials. All 

museum and archival materials that have been identified as belonging to 

the parks' collections must be accessioned by the end of each fiscal year. 

The numbers can be estimates and later refined during the processing and 

cataloging of the materials. Other sections of this plan provide more 

guidance on this subject. 

Recommendations 

• Update the SAJH OFS (10622A) or draft a new request, working with 

the North Coast and Cascades Network, to establish a fulltime curator 

to manage the collections for EBLA, NOCA, and SAJH. This request 

should include an archivist (GS-1420-11) and a museum technician 

(GS-1016-07) to provide guidance and support for the museum object 

and archive collections of the network, as well as support funds for 

supplies, travel, and professional development. 

• Revise the parks’ PMIS statements. Add new project statements that 

accurately define current needs in archives and museum management 

for the parks. These project statements taken as a whole should define 

a five-year program for the parks’ museum management program. 

• Revise the Checklists based on the recommendations of this MMP. 

• Accession all backlog collections to ensure that the parks are eligible 

to receive Backlog Cataloging funds. 

• Revise the resource management and other plans as opportunities 

arise, and participate in interpretive planning to address the specific 

needs of the museum management program. 

84 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
Appendix A— 

Transfer of Resource 

Management Field Records 

to Museum Archives 

Suggested Standard Operating Procedure 

The purpose of this SOP is to aid park staff in accomplishing their 

responsibilities according to DO#77 (Natural Resources Management 

Guideline), DO#28 (Cultural Resources Management Guideline), DM 411 

(DOI Property Management Regulations), DO#19 (Records Management 

Guideline), 36 CFR 2.9, and legislation associated with archiving resource 

management records. 

The Museum Management Plan (2004) documents the need for guidelines 

on the management of archival material. Recommendations include 

retention of reports of archeological, historical, architectural, and other 

scientific research conducted within and for the park. 

The parks' archives include many unique information resources that need 

professional organization and arrangement to promote their most efficient 

use. Park resource management staffs generate records on a daily basis 

that should be considered for inclusion in the park archives. Staff is 

creating data sets, photographs, maps, and field notebooks that future 

generations will need to access to research the history of cultural and 

natural resource projects at the parks. 

Park staffs are involved in capturing fire monitoring data, plant 

collections, air quality research, and a host of ethnographic and 

archeological research. Preserving the corporate knowledge of each of 

these individual activities depends ultimately upon the archival process. 

The organizing thread, then, should be the project itself. 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 85 
Archeological Records 

Government-wide regulations for the curation and care of federal 

archeological collections required by the National Historic Preservation 

Act (NHPA), the Reservoir Salvage Act, and the Archeological Resources 

Protection Act (ARPA) were issued in 1990 as "Curation of Federally 

Owned and Administered Archaeological Collections" (36 CFR 79). 

These regulations establish procedures and guidelines to manage and 

preserve collections. They also include terms and conditions for federal 

agencies to include in contracts and cooperative agreements with nonfederal repositories. 

The document 36 CFR 79 covers excavations done under the authority or 

in connection with federal agencies, laws, and permits (Antiquities Act, 

Reservoir Salvage Act, Section 110 of NHPA, ARPA). It also applies to 

the collections and the generated data, or associated records and is 

applicable to both new and preexisting collections 

Associated records are defined as "Original records (or copies thereof) that 

are prepared, assembled and document efforts to locate, evaluate, record, 

study, preserve or recover a prehistoric or historic resource. Some records 

such as field notes, artifact inventories, and oral histories may be originals 

that are prepared as a result of the fieldwork, analysis and report 

preparation. Other records such as deeds, survey plats, historical maps, 

and diaries may be copies of original public or archival documents that are 

assembled and studied as a result of historical research (36 CFR Part 

79.4.a.2)." 

These guidelines are provided so future materials can be processed and 

included in the collection in a systematic fashion. Staff may also use this 

procedure for materials already in their possession in preparation for the 

materials being accessioned or registered by the archivist under the park 

museum collection accountability system, the National Park Service 

Automated National Cataloging System (ANCS+). Accessioning is the 

preliminary step in identifying collections that will later be cataloged and 

processed to NPS archival standards. Eventually, finding aids are created 

86 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
to enable staff and researchers to easily access information in the 

collection archives. 

Staff cooperation in carrying out this SOP will greatly accelerate the rate 

at which materials are processed. Subject matter specialists involved in the 

creation of these materials carry the greater knowledge about these 

collections. The quality of the final product will depend upon the quality 

of staff involvement in the process of identifying the exact nature of 

archival materials. 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 87 
Checklist for Preparing Field Documentation 

1) Obtain an accession number from the park curator at the commencement of all new 

field projects. 

2) Label ALL materials with the project accession number. Use a soft lead pencil for 

marking documents or files and a Mylar marking pen for Mylar enclosures such as slide, 

print or negative sleeves. 

3) Materials must be arranged by material type such as field notes, reports, maps, 

correspondence, photographs, etc. Each group of materials should be stored in individual 

folders or acceptable archival enclosures. 

4) Resource management staff is responsible for turning over all project documentation to 

the park curator upon completion of a project. In the interest of preserving institutional 

knowledge, leave collections in their original order. Original order means the 

organization system created by the originator of a document collection. RESIST the urge 

to take important documents from these collections. If something is needed for future use, 

copy it or request that the curator make a copy. After copying, replace the document or 

photo where it was found. MUCH INFORMATION ABOUT PAST PROJECTS HAS 

BEEN LOST BECAUSE COLLECTIONS HAVE BEEN PICKED APART. 

REMEMBER THESE MATERIALS WILL ALWAYS BE AVAILABLE. That is the 

whole point behind establishing archives. 

5) When the archival documentation is transferred to the park museum, the form below 

should be provided. This form includes the project title, principal investigator, date of 

project and a history of the project. The name of the individual who obtained the 

accession number should also be listed. The type and quantity of documentation would be 

included as well, such as maps (13), field notes (4 notebooks), Correspondence (3 files). 

USE ONE COPY OF THE ATTACHED Project Identification Sheet FOR EACH 

PROJECT. 

88 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
Project Identification Sheet 

Accession No: _________________(Assigned only by Curator) 

Your name, title, office: _______________________________________________________ 

Project Title_________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________ 

Principle Investigator and position at NEPE during project. Please list staff who might have aided 

in the project implementation. 

___________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________ 

Researcher's office location and extension, or current address, occupation, and employer or 

contact number. 

__________________________________________________________________________ 

__________________________________________________________________________ 

__________________________________________________________________________ 

Type and quantity of materials in collection(s) (specimens, papers, files, reports, data, maps, 

photo prints/negatives/slides, computer media - format/software?) Condition. (i.e. infested, torn, 

broken, good) Attach additional paper if necessary. 

___________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________ 

Scope of Project: 

Is this collection part of an ongoing project to be updated annually? Yes ____ No____ 

Research goals or project purpose and published or in-house reports to which collection relates 

___________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________ 

___________________________________________________________________________ 

Abstract of collection content. Keywords referring to geographical locations, processes, data 

types, associated projects. Indicate whether specimens/objects were collected. Attach additional 

paper if necessary. 

____________________________________________________________________________ 

____________________________________________________________________________ 

_______________________________________________________________________ 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 89 
Planning for the Curation of Resource Management Records 

Records in the Field 

Anticipate the kinds of documents that will be needed in the field to record 

data and use archival materials to produce them (e.g., field excavation 

forms, field notes, photographic logs, transit data, maps, level records, and 

videotape). Use archival quality materials in the field. This can reduce the 

cost of copying information onto archival quality media later. Remember 

that documentation on electronic media alone is not sufficient because of 

the lack of long-term stability of these media and their contents. 

The records created in the field, as well as in the lab, are vulnerable to 

insects, vermin, mold, humidity, light, temperature changes, and 

mishandling. They are also vulnerable to a variety of environmental 

threats, such as roof leaks, flooding, fire, and asbestos problems, and to 

theft or other malicious action. The following are a number of general 

recommendations to follow in the field and lab in order to promote the 

long-term preservation and viability of the great variety of records created: 

• Use appropriate long-lived media for all record types. 

• Use permanent and archival stock in paper, ink, lead pencil, folders, 

and boxes. 

• Inspect and redo damaged or inadequate records. 

• Label everything, or their containers. 

• Use appropriate storage for all media in the field in order to protect 

them from poor environmental conditions and threat of fire or theft. 

• Carefully consider existing guidelines and equipment for digital and 

audiovisual media, make sure backup copies and hard copy printouts 

exist, and migrate data to updated software on a regular schedule. 

• Ensure that project information and data is captured by appropriately 

knowledgeable staff. 

90 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
Paper records 

A number of conservation principles should also be considered for each of 

the primary types of media used for associated records. 

• Use high alpha cellulose, lignin free, acid-free paper, especially for 

field notebooks, and standardized forms. 

• Record information using archival (permanent carbon) inks or #4 

(HH) pencils. 

• Protect paper from water and humidity, and minimize its exposure to 

light. 

• Try not to fold or roll paper. 

• Store papers in archival folders in polyethylene boxes. 

Photographs 

• Protect all photographic materials (e.g., film, prints, slides, negatives, 

and transparencies) from heat, rain, and wind. Store them in archival 

folders in polyethylene boxes. 

• Maintain a log of all photographic images. 

• Only handle photos along their edges. Do not touch the image with 

bare fingers. 

• Do not use paper or plastic clips, rubber bands, pressure sensitive 

tape, adhesive or pressure sensitive labels, or Post-it® notes directly 

on photographs. 

• Do not put photographic materials, except unused film, in cold 

storage without reformatting them for access and duplication. 

Magnetic Records 

• Protect all magnetic materials (e.g., audio tapes, video tapes) from 

heat, dust, and dirt. 

• Consider the equipment required to play the audiovisual material and 

the longevity of that equipment. 

• Label all records in a permanent, carbon-based ink. 

• Store the records in their cases in polyethylene boxes. 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 91 
Cartographic and Oversized Records 

• Oversized records should be stored flat in folders, preferably in map 

cases. Do not roll or fold. 

• Protect paper from water and minimize its exposure to light. 

• During storage and use, protect oversized records from tears and rips. 

Do not use tape to repair tears. 

• Label the oversized folders in permanent, carbon-based ink. 

Digital Records and Data 

• Produce your master records in uncompressed TIFF format, if 

possible. Avoid using proprietary file formats or lossy compression. 

• Protect all digital records from heat, dust, dirt, and ultraviolet 

radiation. 

• Choose a storage medium that is considered a standard. Research its 

longevity. 

• Keep digital records away from magnetic or electric fields that are 

created by old telephones, static, and field and lab equipment such as 

magnetometers and 12-volt transformers. Computer diskettes can be 

partially or completely erased by such exposure. 

• Label the records in permanent, carbon-based ink. 

92 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
Appendix B— 

Preparing Inactive Records 

for Transfer to Storage 

The records management program is able to assist park divisions, 

branches, and offices to professionally and legally manage the records 

created and received in the course of performing the park's business. This 

program can provide legal and technical advice regarding the management 

of records in offices as well as in park retention storage locations housing 

inactive records. Retention periods for National Park Service records are 

specified either in the General Records Schedule (GRS), the Federal 

Government’s guideline on retention/disposition of records common to all 

government agencies, and NPS-19, Records Management Guideline, 

Appendix B, Records Retention Schedule. 

It is the responsibility of each park office wishing to retire inactive records to 

fully prepare them to the specifications that follow before they may be 

transferred to the park museum collection. Once this is done, the park curator 

or his/her representative will visit the office to verify the preparation and 

physically transfer the records to the museum collection. Of course, park 

museum staff will be happy to provide assistance in the interpretation of 

these instructions at any time during the preparation of records for transfer. 

• No records are to be dropped off at the curator’s office without full prior 

preparation and approval of the Curator. 

• Records received unannounced or unprepared will be returned to the 

owning office. 

ALL files pertaining to agency business are government property, not the 

property of the individual employee. 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 93 
Preparing Records for Transfer 

• Use only approved GSA Records Storage Boxes, NSN 8115-00-117-

8249, or approved archival boxes. These boxes can be ordered through 

GSA for large quantities of records, or the park museum may be able to 

provide boxes if only a few are required. 

• Remove all files from hanging folders and three-ring binders. Place in 

appropriately sized (legal or letter) folders that fully contain the records 

without folding. Any file exceeding one inch in thickness, such as thick 

files contained in binders, must be split between multiple folders (place 

in two or more folders). This rule does not apply to Contracting Project 

files, which are self-contained packages and may be thicker. Number 

multiple folders "F1/2, F2/2", etc. 

• Make certain EVERY folder has a clear label, typed or neatly 

handwritten, indicating a clear, descriptive title of the contents, the date 

or date range of the file and, preferably, a file code and retention period. 

NPS file codes are not mandatory, but they make records review and 

disposition actions must faster and simpler and provide a common 

scheme for filing of related documents. File codes are not necessarily 

appropriate for project files as they may contain a large variety of 

materials that do not fit within a file code. 

• Remove all personal materials and multiple copies of documents (keep 

no more than two). Remove all blank forms. 

• Remove all office supplies and computer materials such as desk 

supplies, computer manuals, miscellaneous diskettes, etc. 

• Consult with Records Management staff for assistance with odd-size 

and unusual format materials such as engineering drawings, 

photographs, audio and videotapes, etc. Do not combine these materials 

in boxes with standard-sized records in folders, unless they are an 

integral part of a particular file. NEVER fold oversize materials to fit 

into record storage boxes. 

Electronic Records 

Many word-processed and other types of documents are now received in 

electronic format and are used that way in park offices. The preservation 

of records in electronic format is a very problematic issue, one which 

much larger agencies are having difficulty grappling with. The park 

94 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
curator advises all park departments that preserving records in electronic 

format is not possible at this time, as neither the hardware nor software 

capability to do so is available. 

Make sure to print hard copy of critical and important records and interfile 

them with the related paper records. Hard copy records have a proven 

history of preservation capability. The curator will be happy to discuss the 

management of databases in electronic form for long-term storage and 

preservation. All electronic mail and word processing documents that must 

be retained for either temporary legal purposes or are permanently 

valuable as archival materials MUST be printed and transferred to records 

storage in hard copy format. 

Records Series and Records Disposition 

In archives and records management terminology, records are dealt with in 

groupings called “series.” A series is a group of records which may be 

defined either by format or conditions of creation or use. A more formal 

definition may be “file units or documents arranged according to a filing 

system or kept together because they relate to a particular subject or 

function, result from the same activity, document a specific kind of 

transaction, take a particular physical form, or have some other relationship 

arising out of their creation, receipt, or use, such as restrictions on access and 

use.” A records series is generally handled as a unit for disposition 

purposes.

1

 

Examples of series in National Park Service records include: contract 

project files; time and attendance records; alphabetical subject files; purchase 

orders; and press releases. Records are handled in series because these 

categories may be designated within the National Park Service Records 

Disposition Schedule for authorized legal periods of retention. Some series 

(such as budget, human resources, and contracting) records may be 

destroyed after keeping for a certain period for legal purposes. Other types of 

records, generally all records dealing with management of resources and 

 1 Definitions provided in this paragraph are taken from Appendix D: Glossary, 

Disposition of Federal Records: A Records Management Handbook, Washington, DC: 

National Archives and Records Administration, 1992.

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 95 
administrative decision process, etc., have permanent value and are retained 

as archives collections. For this reason, the museum staff asks that records be 

managed and retired in identifiable series to increase the ease of handling 

when assigning retention periods and, later, in destroying or transferring 

records to appropriate locations. 

“Disposition” in records management is defined as “the actions taken 

regarding records no longer needed for current government business.” These 

actions can include transfer to storage facilities, destruction, or transfer to 

archives. In this instance, “disposition” does not automatically mean 

destruction. 

Packing Records for Transfer 

Try to place only one record series with one disposition date in a box. 

Records will later be disposed of by box, not by removing individual files 

from boxes. Example: Place all retiring DI-1s in a group of boxes. This is 

one ‘series’ of records, all one document type with all the same destruction 

date. If a single series doesn’t fill a box, different series may be combined in 

a box for space economy, as long as they are clearly labeled. 

Pack the files in the same sequence in the cartons as they are arranged in the 

file drawer, using the same filing system as that used in the office. Place 

folders with labels facing the front of the box (label area), or facing to the 

right of front if the folders are legal sized. 

Do not over pack boxes. One must be able to slip a hand easily between 

folders and get into the hand-holds. If this is not possible, the box is too full. 

Label each box as it is filled. Label only in PENCIL! Labeling should 

consist of the following: the owning office symbol plus fiscal year in the 

upper left hand corner label area and the sequential number in the upper right 

hand corner. Number sequentially, e.g., 1/12, 2/12, etc. If it is unknown how 

many boxes there will be, just enter the sequence number, then add the 

whole number to all boxes after completion of the packing job, e.g., 1/ , 2/ 

, 3/ , 4/ , then go back and add in the total box count at the end: 1/4, 2/4, 

3/4, 4/4. The office may contact the museum staff for assigning a unique 

accession number prior to ascertaining boxes are fully identifiable, especially 

96 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
if multiple groupings of records, or series, will be retired at the same time. 

Each series group will be assigned a unique number by the museum staff for 

control purposes and to facilitate later destruction or other action. A fully 

labeled box may resemble this example: 

 ACP-99-2 BPA Records Box 1⁄2 

This example identifies the second group of records (the "2" is assigned by 

the Records Center) retired from the Contracting & Procurement Office in 

Fiscal Year 99, which consists of BPA Records and is the first of two boxes 

in this grouping to be prepared and retired to the Records Center. 

For security, as well as neatness, do not identify the contents of the box on 

the outside, beyond the simple title shown in the example above. The 

detailed contents will be outlined in the inventory document. 

When packing records, do not stack boxes over four high, any higher tends 

to begin crushing the boxes. A stack of four boxes can easily be loaded on a 

hand truck for transport without additional handling. 

Preparing Records Inventory or Transfer List 

Prepare a records transfer document consisting of a general list of the 

contents and boxes. A detailed listing of folders is not needed because this 

information will be entered into the master database at the park museum. If 

everything is well labeled, this database input can occur very quickly at the 

museum, and a printed copy of the inventory will be returned to the office 

for incorporation into the Department’s Inactive Records Binder. This is a 

good chance to double-check to ensure that adequate and consistent labeling 

has been applied to ALL folders in the box. The general listing may provide 

the name of the records series, the date range of the records, the number of 

boxes in the group to be retired, and disposition information if known, also 

any information that may assist the museum staff in preparing or managing 

the files during their retirement period. 

Where there are multiple folders of a single records title and date range, they 

will be listed in the database inventory as a group as shown below rather 

than individually for space and time efficiency. Please ensure that related 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 97 
groupings are appropriately marked with sequential folder numbers, e.g. 1/3, 

2/3, 3/3. The inventory listing will appear as: 

 "BPA File - Ace Hardware - 3 folders 

Some types of documents have their own unique number sequences, such as 

contract files, purchase order files, and time and attendance files by pay 

period. These types of documents may continue to be in folders as they were 

in the department (e.g., accordion folders containing all time sheets for a 

single pay period, etc.). The complete number range of such documents 

should be correctly listed on the folders, so when the folder headings are 

used to create the inventory, the information is complete and correct. When 

preparing the inventory, list the documents in their normal numbering 

sequence. Consult with records management staff for assistance. 

Transferring Prepared Records to the Park Museum 

After all above steps have been completed, contact the curator to request 

physical transfer of the records. The curator or a member of the records staff 

will come to review the preparations and physically transfer the records to 

the park museum. 

The records always should be physically transferred by museum staff, to 

protect against damage or loss to the records or personal injury during 

moving. 

An appointment will be scheduled to complete the physical transfer to the 

park museum. Depending on the current demand, pick-ups may be delayed 

because of other records intake actions in progress which may be occupying 

the limited workspace. Records will be picked up as quickly as possible. 

PLEASE do not move the records to a dangerous storage environment while 

waiting for pick-up! This includes any basement or unheated building in the 

park. 

After-Transfer Actions 

Museum staff will review records boxes and transfer documentation, and 

make any necessary corrections. Museum staff will perform database entry 

98 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
of the individual file folders in the records accession. Finalized copies of the 

inventories and transfer forms will be placed on file in the park museum with 

a tickler system for later action on the records. The staff will send a printout 

of the completed inventory back to the office, along with a revised Table of 

Contents for the Department Inactive Records Binder including the newly 

accessioned and processed material. Please follow the instructions with the 

inventory and in the Records Binder to incorporate this new material into 

your department’s binder. 

Records that are retired by park offices to the park museum remain the 

property of the office. They will not be available for research to anyone 

except that office's personnel without the express written permission of the 

office head. 

Records that need to be recalled by the office should be referred to by the 

accession number, the box number, and the folder title as listed on the 

records inventory in your department’s Inactive Records Binder. 

Office staff may request the return of records for a period of 30 days, 

renewable, or a photocopy of the records. This is to ensure that retrieved 

records do not become lost and unavailable for further review as needed. 

One office employee must sign for the records to ensure accountability 

during the time they are removed from storage. 

As scheduled review dates for the records come up, the museum staff will 

communicate with the owning office regarding the ongoing value of the 

records for government business. Reviews should occur approximately every 

two years. These reviews form the basis for further records actions which are 

normal in the life cycle of records. Many financial and human resources 

records may be destroyed within a certain period of years. The Records 

Action Form will initiate further actions, such as a decision to retain records 

in the park museum for additional time, for destruction, or for transfer of 

permanently valuable records to the park’s archives. 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 99 
Figure 6 Historic archeology artifacts in storage 

100 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
Appendix C—

Proactive Management 

of Archeological Collections 

Problem Statement 

A number of park collections seem to be burdened with materials that 

probably never should have been retained in the first place. This has been 

partly the result of too liberal collecting protocols on the part of the 

archeologist, and partly the park museum collections being used as the 

park “attic”. Examples include 5-gallon cans of coal clinkers from the 

blacksmith shop excavation at Fort Vancouver; large soil samples from the 

British Camp excavations at San Juan Island; trash from shovel pit 

samples at Olympic; and shards of purple bottle glass turned in by visitors 

at Death Valley (NB: All of this material is currently cataloged, but the 

validity of the decision to keep any or all of these items is being 

questioned by the park curators involved.) 

Background 

According to the FY 2002 Collection Management Report (CMR), the 

park museum collections in the Pacific West Region contain over 19 

million individual items. Approximately 24% are archeological objects 

and specimens recovered from park lands. Most of these materials resulted 

from organized excavations or compliance mitigation. A lesser number 

come from isolated finds made by park staff and visitors. Archeological 

mitigation continues to occur in almost every park, every year, resulting in 

thousands of items entering park collections on a continuing basis. 

The museum documentation process (accession and catalog) and 

preparation for storage (basic cleaning, preservation and storage furniture) 

costs about $100.00 per catalog number assigned. This includes such costs 

as providing cabinets, shelves and boxes, but does not include building 

construction or modification for collections work. Storage costs across the 

region range between $50.00 and $75.00 per cubic foot per year. These 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 101 
costs include such things as heating/air conditioning, annual inventory, 

conservation/preservation evaluation and application, pest management, 

emergency operations planning and application, selection and preparation 

of items for exhibit, making items available for research, and other 

professional and technical collection management activities. These costs 

have been well documented in recent years on both regional and national 

levels. (Bush, 1995; Bohnert, et al, 1997; Child, et al, 2000). 

It is obvious that required archeological activities will continue, and will 

generate materials necessary to document park resources and activities 

impacting them. These collections and their associated archives also will 

continue to require documentation, preservation, storage, and management 

from park collection managers. We have come to the point, however, 

where we need to be looking closely at what has been retained in the past, 

and what we want to retain in the future, particularly in light of the costs 

documented above. 

Suggested Actions 

There are three actions suggested to rectify this continuing situation at the 

parks, and to ensure that funds for collections documentation and 

management are wisely spent: 

• Park staffs and archeological and museum professionals in the central 

offices should review the collecting protocols outlined in park Scope 

of Collection Statements (SOCS). SOCS should be revised to 

established appropriate collecting levels for archeological collections. 

• Develop suggested general collecting protocol and requirement that 

some form of this be modified and used for every archeological 

venture. In this way collecting protocols could be specifically tailored 

for individual projects as necessary, or the generic protocol could be 

used. In either case, a copy of the collecting protocol to be used would 

be discussed with the park collections manager, and included as part 

of the project record. The project archeologist would also be required 

to provide the collections manager with a valid description of each 

item/sample retained, to include the rationale for retention. This 

information would be entered into the catalog as part of the permanent 

record, resulting in more complete information in the catalog, as well 

as documentation as to why the project archeologist felt it important 

to retain any given item/sample. Currently the protocol and rationale 

102 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
is missing from most documentation, leading to questions and 

speculation on the part of park curators and managers alike. 

• During the cataloging process for currently uncataloged materials 

(about 26% of the total archeological collections reported in the FY 

2002 CMR), archeologists will review items to be cataloged with the 

curator to determine which items currently accessioned actually need 

to be cataloged or whether they can be recorded as part of the report 

and disposed of appropriately. 

• The final action is more complex and will take extended cooperation 

between archeologists and curators over several years. The 

archeological collections at many parks need to be reviewed by a 

curator and archeologist team to determine whether the archeological 

collections at any given park could be improved and made more 

efficient by judicial de-accessioning activities. This “bi-partisan” 

review would look at materials such as the Fort Vancouver clinkers, 

the broken glass at Death Valley, and large soil samples at San Juan 

Island, to determine whether the disposal of some materials or 

reduction in the size of some samples, might improve both collections 

quality and efficiency. 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 103 
104 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
Appendix D— 

Rethinking NPS 

Records Management 

The underpinning philosophy and paradigm of records management within 

the National Park Service is being rethought in light of NPS best practices 

and continuing technological impacts on communications. The 

Department of the Interior (DOI) and the park service have identified the 

need for continuing management of park cultural and natural resources in 

two concepts: “Mission Critical Records,” as presented in Director’s Order 

#19 (DO#19) and “Resource Management Records,” as presented in the 

DOI and NPS Museum Management policies. 

DO#19 specifically identifies mission critical records as having the 

highest priority in records management activities. Mission critical records 

are all records documenting natural and cultural resources and their 

previous management. These records contain information crucial for the 

future management of the resources and include “...general management 

plans and other major planning documents that record basic management, 

and philosophies and policies, or that direct park management and 

activities for long periods of time.” 

Other examples of mission critical records include records that directly 

support the specific mission of a park unit and the overall mission of the 

park service. These records are permanent records that will eventually 

become archival records. Therefore, DO#19 dictates that these records 

should receive archival care as soon as practical in their life cycle. 

Similar to mission critical records is the concept of resource management 

records. The DOI manual defines resource management records as “made 

or acquired by the federal government to record information on cultural 

and natural resources.” As described in the Cultural Resources 

Management Guideline (DO#28), resource management records document 

park resources and provide key information for their continuing 

management. Accordingly, they are classified as “library and museum 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 105 
materials made or acquired and preserved solely for reference or 

exhibition purposes.” Therefore, these materials are excluded from the 

National Archives’ definition of records. 

However, in the last few years the definition of resource management 

records has broadened beyond reference or exhibition materials. Many 

official records have also been designated as important for the long-term 

management of park cultural and natural resources. In the past, official 

records could not be added to a park’s museum or library collection. 

However, records generated by the planning process and compliance 

review actions of resource management are important official records that 

never reach an inactive status. 

The past system of records management and disposition as promulgated in 

NPS-19 focused on “official records” and “unofficial records.” Official 

records were original documents created or received by a park in the 

course of performing the daily business of the NPS. Unofficial, or subofficial, records encompassed duplicate copies of official records and 

documents generated in association with a resource management project 

(e.g., archeological field notes). 

Non-official records were materials not created by a government agency, 

and included donated manuscripts (e.g., letters written by an eminent 

figure associated with the creation of a park), collections of personal 

papers, organizational records of non-governmental entities such as 

businesses or civic groups, and collections accrued by private individuals. 

Only sub-official and non-official records could be placed in a park’s 

museum collection, after evaluation against the park’s Scope of Collection 

Statement (SOCS) for retention if appropriate. By law NARA has been 

responsible for the official records of the federal government, once the 

records are no longer actively needed and have reached their disposition 

date. Non-official records, such as manuscript collections, were not 

governed by the NPS Records Disposition Schedule and NARA and 

included in a park’s museum collection based upon its SOCS. 

Under the new methodology, instead of a record’s importance being 

primarily dictated by its form (a signed original or a copy), it is now to be 

determined by the actual information it carries. This philosophy divides 

106 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
records into “permanent” and “temporary;” copies are to be considered 

just copies and so are not addressed. Permanent records have continuing 

value to resource management. Temporary records have a limited use life 

in the operations of a park (or support office). Permanently active records 

are also discussed; these are materials needed for the long-term, ongoing 

management of park resources for the NPS to fulfill its agency mandate. 

The criteria for permanent and temporary also take into account the office 

of creation—a permanent record for one office, such as a regional office, 

may be temporary for a park because it is a distributed copy for general 

reference only. Temporary records are to be retained as long as indicated 

by the revised Records Retention Schedule. After their allotted retention 

time, temporary records may be disposed of by parks or retained longer if 

still needed. 

Many of the disposition time frames outlined in NPS-19 have been 

retained in the new DO#19 retention schedule. This applies in particular to 

fiscal, routine administrative, law enforcement, forms covered under 

NARA General Records Schedule 20, and other daily operational 

materials. Permanent records may also be retained as long as actively 

needed for use and reference. Under the new DO#19, permanent records 

are to include land acquisition records, park planning documents, 

documents pertaining to cultural and resource management decisions and 

projects, and documents pertaining to the history of the administration and 

interpretation of a park. 

The concept of resource management records has been broadened in 

DO#19 from definitions in NPS-19 that classified only associated project 

records as permanent, such as archeological field notes and natural history 

project data. Currently, the park service Records Advisory Council (RAC) 

has suspended disposition of certain official records that may be important 

for parks to retain on-site. The new, broadened concept classifies as 

permanent a wide array of documents previously considered temporary 

(such as construction reports) because the subject of the document is a 

park resource or substantially impacts a park resource. For example, 

previously all contracts were considered temporary, whereas the 

broadened definition of resource management records considers contracts 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 107 
on cultural resources (e.g., a historic building on the National Register of 

Historic Places) permanent. 

Under the new NARA protocol, parks will have three avenues to choose 

among to provide accessibility to their inactive (no longer actively needed 

or in use) records before the records are permanently destroyed or retired 

to the National Archives. Under the new proposal, parks may still send 

inactive records to a NARA FRC for public access and storage following 

the current procedure, but now a fee will be charged by the Office of 

Management and Budget ($3.28 per cubic foot as of Oct. 2000). This 

charge is currently being paid by WASO for all parks. 

Parks can now arrange for storage at an off-site commercial repository, or 

retain their own records on-site. In both cases, professional archival 

parameters of preservation and access set by NARA must be met. These 

archival parameters include security, fire protection, appropriate storage 

techniques, climate controlled environment, and widely disseminated 

collection finding aids. Most if not all of these parameters are met at the 

NOCA curatorial storage area at Marblemount. Once the inactive records 

have reached their disposition date, records are to be destroyed or 

transferred to the National Archives for permanent storage. These new 

changes in records definitions and storage procedures will not be reflected 

in DO#28 Cultural Resources Management Guideline and the NPS 

Museum Handbook, Part II, Appendix D, “Museum Archives and 

Manuscript Collections,” until these documents are revised. 

Records managers recommend parks establish comprehensive, stand-alone 

project files for resource management, major special events, park 

infrastructure and research projects, and that these project files not be 

assigned NPS file codes (see Appendix A, page 85). These files should 

contain copies of finalized contract documents including substantive 

change orders and specifications, requisition forms, “as-built” documents 

for finished construction projects, related project planning documents and 

all documents illustrating all decisions made and why. For research 

projects, project files should also include copies of all researcher field 

notes, laboratory notes and results, a copy of the final report and report 

drafts, and any other materials generated by the project in question. Staff 

are then assured that a full set of documents covering an entire project are 

108 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
gathered, in order of creation and project evolution, in one place. It also 

averts problems of fiscal records being filed separately from other project 

materials, and potentially losing critical data from a project’s life history. 

When a project is completed, its files should be retired to the park’s 

museum archives for long-term reference. The separation of routine 

administrative records from project records is recommended practice in 

the General Records Schedules as well. NARA expects that routine 

administrative records are temporary with short retention spans before 

destruction. Project records, on the other hand, are expected to have long 

retention periods, be permanent, and have potential (if not anticipated) 

archival value. 

The NPS Museum Handbook, Part II, Appendix D, “Museum Archives 

and Manuscript Collections,” governing the creation and management of 

park archives and manuscript collections, does not reflect this paradigm 

shift. It reflects the guidelines of NPS-19, and states that non-official 

records, or only “associated project records,” are eligible to be retained by 

a park for its museum collection archives. The new paradigm is also not 

reflected in DO#28, Cultural Resources Management Guideline. Both 

Appendix D and DO#28 will be revised to reflect the changes in NARA 

policy and NPS records management upon their finalization. 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 109 
110 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
Bibliography

Good museum management planning requires an understanding of the 

library, archives, and museum collection resources as they currently exist; 

background on how and why these resources were developed; and 

information on what is required to preserve the resources and make them 

available for use. In order to accomplish these goals effectively, planners 

must first review park-specific documentation such as reports, checklists, 

and plans, then make recommendations based on professional theory and 

techniques that are documented in the professional literature. 

This bibliography provides the references used in developing this Museum 

Management Plan. The first section gives references to park-specific 

documentation used by the team to understand the current status of the 

resources. The second section includes a list of recommended readings 

that will provide park staff with a better understanding of the physical and 

intellectual nature of these unique resources, and will enable them to apply 

professionally accepted techniques and standards for preservation and use. 

Park Reference List 

Bush, K., et al. Collection Management Plan: North Cascades National 

Park, 1994. 

Florence. North Cascades National Park Service Complex Historic 

Structures Preservation Guide, North Cascades National Park Service 

Complex 1987. 

Gilbert and Luxenberg. Cultural Landscape Inventory of the Buckner 

Orchard, North Cascades National Park Service Complex, 1984. 

Kennedy, J. Buckner Homestead Historic District Final Management 

Plan. North Cascades National Park Service Complex, 1998. 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 111 
Louter, David. Contested Terrain: An Administrative History. 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex, 1998. 

Luxenberg, Gretchen A. Historic Resource Study. North Cascades 

National Park Service Complex, 1986. 

Luxenberg, Gretchen A. Historic Structures Inventory. North Cascades 

National Park Service Complex, 1984. 

McKinley, Laura. 1993. An Unbroken Historical Record: An 

Administrative History Of Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve. 

National Park Service. 

National Park Service. General Management Plan for North Cascades 

National Park; Ross Lake National Recreation Area and Lake Chelan 

National Recreation Area. U.S. Government Printing Office 1988-573-

038/60,031 Region No. 8, July 1988. 

_____. Interpretive Prospectus: North Cascades National Park, Ross Lake 

National Recreation Area, Lake Chelan National Recreation Area, 

Washington, 1990. 

_____. Lake Chelan National Recreation Area General Management 

Plan, 1995. 

_____. List of Classified Structures. 2004. The List of Classified 

Structures (LCS) is an evaluated inventory of all historic and prehistoric 

structures that have historical, architectural, and/or engineering 

significance within parks of the National Park System. 

_____. Long-Term Ecological Monitoring Conceptual Plan. North 

Cascades National Park Service Complex, June 2004. 

_____. Strategic Plan for North Cascades National Park Service 

Complex: Fiscal Year 2001 – 2005 (October 1, 2000 - September 30, 

2005). North Cascades National Park Service Complex, 2000.

Trust Board of Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve. Mission 

Statement. 1994. 

112 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
_____. Vision Statement. 1994. 

U.S. Congress. An Act to establish the North Cascades National Park and 

Ross Lake and Lake Chelan National Recreation Areas, to designate the 

Pasayten Wilderness and to modify the Glacier Peak Wilderness, in the 

State of Washington, and for other purposes. (82 Stat. 926) October 2, 

1968. 

_____. An Act to designate wilderness within Olympic National Park, 

Mount Rainier National Park, and North Cascades National Park Service 

Complex in the State of Washington, and for other purposes. (102 Stat. 

3961) November 16, 1988. 

_____. An Act to preserve and protect a rural community which provides 

an unbroken historical record from nineteenth century exploration and 

settlement in Puget Sound to the present time. Ebey’s Landing National 

Historical Reserve, (92 Stat. 3508) November 10, 1978 . 

Suggested Reading List 

The skills and craft necessary to perform adequate curatorial work have 

expanded exponentially over the past three decades. Fortunately, the 

literature in the field has also expanded to meet program needs. The 

current National Park Service publications, NPS Museum Handbook, the 

Conserve O Gram series, and Tools of the Trade, all provide basic 

guidelines. They inform the reader how to perform certain tasks such as 

accessioning and cataloging, but they do not teach the neophyte when 

and/or why these tasks should be done. The proper application of the 

methodology presented in these documents requires a degree of 

intellectual preparation and practical experience that cannot be provided in 

procedural manuals or a two-week course. 

The following references represent some of the best theory and practice in 

the fields of collection management, exhibits and programs, and archival 

management available today within the professional community. The 

museum management planning team does not suggest that the park 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 113 
purchase a copy of each suggested reference, but it is possible to acquire 

copies of these volumes on inter-library loan. 

Park managers and supervisors are encouraged to consider familiarity with 

the recognized literature in the field when evaluating prospective 

employees or, as an indication of continued professional growth when 

doing performance evaluations. This familiarity should be a determining 

factor for employment at the GS 1015/11 level and above. It should also 

serve as an indication of job interest and commitment to professionalism 

when overall work standards are evaluated. 

Collection Management References 

American Association of Museums. Caring for Collections: Strategies for 

Conservation, Maintenance and Documentation. 1984. More than 60 

curators, registrars, and conservators contributed information on how to 

improve environmental conditions, manage inventory, register objects, and 

augment public use of museum collections. 

Appelbaum, Barbara. Guide to Environmental Protection of Collections. 

Second View Press, 1991. Clarifies the various conditions that impact 

collections, how objects respond, and how to mitigate damage. Good book 

for the non-specialist. 

Butcher-Younghans, Sherry. Historic House Museums: A Practical 

Handbook for Their Care, Preservation, and Management. Oxford 

University Press, 1996. This book serves as both reference and hands-on 

guide for all aspects of historic house management, including collections 

care, conservation, security, and interpretation. 

Buck, Rebecca A. & Gilmore, Jean A., eds. The New Museum 

Registration Methods. American Association of Museums, 1998. This is a 

very well done update of the classic Museum Registration Methods by 

Dorothy Dudley and Irma Wilkinson (below). Good format and easy to 

reference, with up-to-date information sections concerning copyright, 

NAGPRA issues, and ethics. 

114 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
Committee on Libraries, Museums, and Historic Buildings. Protection of 

Museums and Museum Collections 1980. NFPA 911, Boston: National 

Fire Protection Association, Inc., 1980. One of the best sources on fire 

protection and prevention, written specifically for museums. 

Dudley, Dorothy H., et al. Museum Registration Methods. 3rd ed. 

American Association of Museums, 1979. Accepted as "the basic 

reference" for museum registrars, this classic covers registration, storage, 

and care, as well as insurance, packing and shipping, and loan 

management. 

Edwards, Stephen R., Bruce M. Bell, and Mary Elizabeth King. Pest 

Control in Museums: A Status Report. Lawrence, Kansas: Association of 

Systematic Collections, 1980. A good guide to pesticides, their use in 

museums, and common insect pests. 

Hensley, John R. "Safeguarding Museum Collections from the Effects of 

Earthquakes." Curator, September 1987, pp. 199-205. 

Hunter, John E. "Standard Practices for Handling Museum Objects." 

Omaha, Nebraska: National Park Service, Midwest Region. North Dakota. 

 . "Standards for the Design, Installation, Testing, and Maintenance 

of Interior Intrusion Detection/Alarm System." Omaha, Nebraska: 

National Park Service, Midwest Region. 1981. 

Johnson, E. Verner and Joanne C. Horgan. Museum Collection Storage. 

Paris: UNESCO, 1979. 

Knell, Susan. Care of Collections. London: Routledge, 1994. Basic book 

on preventative conservation, focusing on specific and practical guidelines 

for collections care and handling. 

Leo, Jack. "How to Secure Your Museum: A Basic Checklist." History 

News, June 1980, pp. 10-12. 

Lewis, Ralph H. Manual for Museums. Washington, DC: National Park 

Service, Department of Interior, 1976. 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 115 
MacLeish, A. Bruce. The Care of Antiques and Historical Collections. 

Nashville, Tennessee: The American Association for State and Local 

History, 1983. A reference for general museum collection care. 

Malaro, M.C., A Legal Primer on Managing Museum Collections. 

Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institutional Press, 1985. 

Metsger, Deborah A. & Shelia C. Byers, eds. Managing the Modern 

Herbarium: An Interdisciplinary Approach. 1999. Society for the 

Preservation of Natural History Collections. Elton-Wolfe Publishing, 

Vancouver, Canada. First significant publication in decades on herbaria 

that covers all aspects of herbaria management. 

National Park Service. Automated National Catalog System User Manual. 

1998. 

 .Conserve O Gram. 1974 to present. 

 .CRM, Volume 22, no. 2, 1999 “Archives at the Millennium.” 

 .NPS Management Policies. 2001. 

 .NPS Museum Handbook, Part I: Museum Collections. 1990 

(revised). 

 .NPS Museum Handbook, Part II: Museum Records. 2000. 

 . NPS Museum Handbook, Part III: Museum Collections Use. 1998. 

 . DO#19: Records Management. 2001. 

 . NPS-19: Records Management Guidebook. 1999 Appendix B 

(only): "Records Management Disposition Schedule." 

 . DO#28: Cultural Resources Management Guideline. 1998. 

 . NPS-77: Natural Resources Management Guideline. 1991. 

 . DO#24: NPS Museum Collection Management, 2000.

 . Tools of the Trade. 1996. 

116 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
Reitherman, Robert. "Protection of Museum Contents from Earthquakes." 

The J. Paul Getty Museum Symposium on Protection of Art Objects from 

Damage by Earthquakes: What Can Be Done? 1984.

Rose, Carolyn and Amparo de Torres, eds. Storage of Natural History 

Collections: Ideas and Practical Solutions. Society for the Preservation of 

Natural History Collections, 1992. A good “idea” book containing several 

photographs and graphics detailing innovative solutions to the storage of 

various types of materials. 

 & C.A. Hawks, et al. Storage of Natural History Collections: A 

Preventive Conservation Approach. 1995. Society for the Preservation of 

Natural History Collections. 

Thomson, Garry. The Museum Environment. 2nd ed. London: 

Butterworths, 1986. An excellent source on light, humidity, and air 

pollution. 

Thomson, John, et al. Manual of Curatorship: A Guide to Museum 

Practice. 2nd ed. London: Butterworths, 1992. Possibly the best 

comprehensive reference in print on the craft and professionalism required 

for curatorial work. 

Weinstein, Robert A., et al. Collection, Use and Care of Historical 

Photographs. American Association for State and Local History, 1977. 

One of the best basic references on this technical subject. 

Zycherman, Linda, ed. A Guide to Museum Pest Control. The Foundation 

of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, 

and the Association of Systematic Collections. A good, basic reference on 

pest identification, with suggestions for methods of control. 

References for Exhibits and Programs 

American Association of Museums. "The Audience in Exhibition 

Development: Course Proceedings." Resource Report, 1992. A good guide 

to models of exhibition development; philosophy of education; learning 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 117 
theory; gender, culture, class and learning; spatial knowledge and its role 

in learning; evaluation; and visitor surveys. 

Belcher, Michael. Exhibitions in Museums. Smithsonian Institution Press, 

1992. Discusses every stage of exhibit planning, design, and presentation, 

including audience research and evaluation. A good resource book. 

Dean, David. Museum Exhibition: Theory and Practice. London: 

Routledge, 1994. Outlines the full range of exhibition development 

concerns, from planning and design to evaluation and administration. 

Falk, John and Lynn D. Dierking. The Museum Experience. Whalesback 

Books, 1992. Provides a good introduction to what is known about why 

people go to museums, what they do there, and what they learn. 

Guidelines and recommendations are offered to help museum staff 

understand visitors and their motivation for visiting. 

Hooper-Greenhill, Eileen. Museums and Their Visitors. London: 

Routledge, 1994. The unique needs of school groups, families, and people 

with disabilities are outlined and illustrated with examples of exhibit, 

education, and marketing policies that work to provide a quality visitor 

experience. 

Hooper-Greenhill, Eileen, ed. The Educational Role of the Museum. 

London: Routledge, 1994. A close look at the theories of communication 

in museums, exhibition theories and case studies, and educational 

programs in British museums, this book translates well into the American 

experience. 

Korn, Randi and Laurie Sowd. Visitor Surveys: A User's Manual. 

American Association of Museums, 1990. A good, basic manual on how 

to conduct visitor surveys to accurately measure the effectiveness of 

museum exhibits and programs. 

McLean, Kathleen. Planning for People in Museum Exhibitions. 

Association of Science-Technology Centers, 1993. Good description of 

the exhibition process, from planning to assessment. 

118 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
New York Hall of Science. Take to the Streets: Guide to Planning 

Outdoor, Public Exhibits. 1995. Based on a series of sidewalk exhibits 

done in New York, this book contains checklists and guidelines for 

planning, designing, and implementing outdoor exhibits. 

Neil, Arminta. Help for the Small Museum. Pruett Publishing Co. 1987. 

The second edition of the classic "how to" book for the development of 

temporary exhibits on a tight budget. 

Serrell, Beverly. Exhibit Labels: An Interpretive Approach. Altamira 

Press, 1996. Solid reference tool, including discussions of label planning, 

writing, design, and publication. Contains very good resource list, 

glossary, and bibliography. 

Witteborg, Lothar P. Good Show! A Practical Guide for Temporary 

Exhibitions. Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, 1991. 

The second edition of a standard reference offering practical guidance in 

exhibit planning, design, fabrication, security, conservation, and 

installation. 

Archives Management References 

Adela, James M. Understanding Archives and Manuscripts. Archival 

Fundamentals Series, Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 1990. 

Aourada, Stephen. Archives and Manuscript Materials in Parks of the 

North Atlantic Region. National Park Service, 1992. 

Association of British Archivists, Small Archives Committee. A Manual 

for Small Archives, British Columbia: Association of British Columbia 

Archivists, 1988. 

Baird, Donald and Laura M. Coles. A Manual for Small Archives. 

Vancouver: Archives Association of British Columbia, 1991. 

Bellardo, Lewis and Lynn Lady Bellardo. A Glossary for Archivists, 

Manuscript Curators, and Records Managers. Archival Fundamental 

Series. Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 1992. 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 119 
Casterline, Gail F. Archives and Manuscripts: Exhibits. Chicago: Society 

of American Archivists, 1980 (Out-of-print). 

Cook, Michael. Archives Administration: A Manual for Intermediate and 

Small Organizations and for Local Government. Folkestone, England: 

William Dawson and Sons, 1977. 

Cox, Richard J. Managing Institutional Archives. New York: Greenwood 

Press, 1982. 

Daniels, Maygene and Timothy Walsh, eds. A Modern Archives Reader: 

Basic Readings on Archival Theory and Practice. Washington, DC: 

National Archives Trust Fund Board, 1984. 

Eastman-Kodak. Conservation of Photographs. Rochester, NY: Kodak 

publication F-40, Rochester, NY: Eastman-Kodak Company, 1985. 

Ellis, Judith, ed. Keeping Archives. Second edition. Australia: Australian 

Society of Archivists and D.W. Thorpe, 1993. 

Finch, Elsie Freeman, ed. Advocating Archives: An Introduction to Public 

Relations for Archivists. Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 1994. 

Ham, Gerald F. Selecting and Appraising Archives and Manuscripts. 

Archival Fundamental Series. Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 

1992. 

Harrison, Donald Fisher, ed. Automation in Archives. Washington, DC: 

Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference, 1993. 

Hensen, Steven. Archives, Personal Papers, and Manuscripts: A 

Cataloging Manual for Archival Repositories, Historical Societies, and 

Manuscript Libraries. 2nd ed., Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 

1990. http://www.archivists.org 

Hunter, Greg. Developing and Maintaining Practical Archives. New 

York: Neal Schuman Publishers, 1997. 

120 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 
Kesner, Richard and Lisa Weber. Automating the Archives: A Beginner's 

Guide. Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 1991. 

Miller, Frederic M. Arranging and Describing Archives and Manuscripts. 

Archival Fundamental Series. Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 

1990. 

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). A NARA 

Evaluation: The Management of Audiovisual Records in Federal 

Agencies. A General Report. Washington, DC, 1991. 

MacNeil, Heather. Without Consent: The Ethics of Disclosing Personal 

Information in Public Archives. Metuchen, New Jersey: Scarecrow Press, 

1992. 

O'Toole, James M. Understanding Archives and Manuscripts. Archival 

Fundamental Series. Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 1990. 

Pugh, Mary Jo. Providing Reference Services for Archives and 

Manuscripts. Archival Fundamental Series. Chicago: Society of American 

Archivists, 1992. 

Ritzenthaler, Mary Lynn, et al. Archives and Manuscripts: Administration 

of Photographic Collections. SAA Basic Manual Series. Chicago: Society 

of American Archivists, 1984. 

Ritzenthaler, Mary Lynn. Preserving Archives and Manuscripts. Archival 

Fundamental Series. Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 1993. 

Rogers, Paul. “Evaluation of Records Management and Archives 

Administration in the National Park Service” (MA Thesis, Western 

Washington University, 2003). 

Silverman, Cetyl and Nancy J. Perezo. Preserving the Anthropological 

Record. New York: Wanner-Green Foundation for Anthropological 

Research, Inc., 1992. 

Swartzburg, Susan. Preserving Library Materials: A Manual. 2nd ed. 

Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1995. 

North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 121 
122 North Cascades National Park Service Complex Museum Management Plan 

Van Bogart, Dr. John W.C. Magnetic Tape Storage and Handling: A 

Guide for Libraries and Archives. Washington, DC: The Commission on 

Preservation and Access, 1995. 

Warren, Susan. "Introduction to Archival Organization and Description: 

Access to Cultural Heritage." Getty Information Institute: San Marino, 

CA, 1998. On-the-Web primer includes a tutorial at 

http://www.schistory.org/getty/index.html 

Wilted, Thomas and William Note. Managing Archival and Manuscript 

Repositories. Archival Fundamental Series. Chicago: Society of American 

Archivists, 1991. 

Yakel, Elizabeth. Starting an Archives. Chicago: Society of American 

Archivists, 1994.