link to page 1 
August 5, 2019
National Park Service Affiliated Areas: An Overview
In addition to managing the 419 units of the National Park
administer the area but has some special cooperative
System, the National Park Service (NPS) manages or assists
arrangement. “Many of these arrangements defy simple
other areas that are linked in importance and purpose to the
formulas for defining what we administer,” the memo
larger system. These related areas may be recognized by
stated. A 1990 NPS report to Congress—delivered in
Congress and may receive assistance from NPS but
compliance with P.L. 100-336—reaffirmed this finding,
typically are owned and administered primarily by
stating that, “Areas have been classified as affiliated
nonfederal entities. Among these related areas are 25 sites
because they did not fit the definition of a park system unit
that NPS has classified under the title of affiliated areas.
rather than because they did meet some clearly defined
NPS defines affiliated areas as locations that “preserve
criteria.” In response, the report recommended that
significant properties outside the National Park System ...
Congress recognize the affiliated area category and endorse
[and that] draw on technical or financial aid from the
the criteria proposed by NPS for affiliated area status.
National Park Service” (National Parks: Index 2012-2016,
p. 118).
Designation Criteria
The criteria recommended in the 1990 NPS report are
History of Affiliated Status
largely reflected in the NPS Management Policies 2006
The standard by which NPS defines and categorizes
(Section 1.3.4), which establishes eligibility guidelines for
affiliated areas has evolved and changed over the years. At
affiliated area status. To be eligible, proposed areas must
times, Congress has attempted to clarify which areas fall
within this status. In 1970, Congress passed legislation that
Meet the same standards for significance and suitability
defined units of the National Park System as “any area of
that apply to units of the National Park System;
land and water now or hereafter administered by the
Secretary of the Interior through the National Park Service
Require some special recognition or technical assistance
for park, monument, historic, parkway, recreational or other
beyond what is available through existing NPS
purposes” (P.L. 91-383). The 1970 law specifically
programs;
excludes from this definition “miscellaneous areas
administered in connection therewith,”—that is, properties
Be managed in accordance with the policies and
and sites that are neither federally owned nor directly
standards that apply to units of the National Park
administered by the NPS but that receive some federal
System; and
assistance. In 1975, NPS issued the National Parks: Index
(an occasional publication from NPS that serves as the
Be assured of sustained resource protection, as
official list of National Park System areas), in which the
documented in a formal agreement between the NPS
agency classified nine units for the first time under the new
and the nonfederal management entity.
title of affiliated areas.
Designation Process and Authority
Despite this new definition, affiliated status continued to
The 25 existing affiliated areas were primarily established
shift in the years following 1970. At times, the status
legislatively, although some were established through
included designations such as national heritage areas, rivers
administrative action by the Secretary of the Interior under
in the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, and trails in
the authority of the Historic Sites Act of 1935 (54 U.S.C.
the National Trails System; at other points, NPS excluded
§§320101 et seq.). Under the act, as amended, an
these areas from the affiliated categorization. In 1988,
administratively designated site may not receive federal
Congress passed legislation directing NPS to define the
funding unless Congress specifically appropriates funding
“criteria for the elements of national significance and other
for that site.
factors necessary for a proposed area to be considered
appropriate for inclusion as an affiliated area” (P.L. 100-
Although many of the sites were established in statute, in
336). Later that year, NPS issued proposed regulations that
most cases the establishing laws did not identify them or
included a revised definition and set criteria for “affiliated
title them as affiliated areas. Instead, the sites were
area” designation (53 Federal Register 32115). While these
designated with varying titles; they include 9 national
regulations were never finalized, they are reflected in the
historic sites and 4 national memorials, as well as 12 sites
current standards for inclusion outlined in NPS’s
with other, often unique, titles.
Management Policies 2006 (see “Designation Criteria”).
The oldest existing affiliated area is the Jamestown
In 1989, NPS issued a memorandum entitled “Classification
National Historic Site. The site was designated on
of NPS Units and Related Areas” that outlined some
December 18, 1940, by administrative action, in which the
difficulties in classifying areas where NPS does not directly
Secretary of the Interior called for “a unified program of
https://crsreports.congress.gov
link to page 2 link to page 2 link to page 2 National Park Service Affiliated Areas: An Overview
development and administration” between NPS and the
determining the feasibility of a site for affiliated status (see
Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities
“Recent Legislation”).
(APVA). The APVA continues to own and operate this site.
The most recent site designated as an affiliated area was the
Some sites previously designated or categorized as an
Parker’s Crossroads Battlefield in 2019, which was
affiliated area have been removed from this classification.
established by the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation,
Sometimes, this removal was the result of a shift in how
Management, and Recreation Act (P.L. 116-9).
NPS defines and lists affiliated areas, as was the case with
several national heritage areas and early units of the
Table 1. Examples of NPS Affiliated Areas
National Trails System. Other times, sites previously
categorized as affiliated areas were later redesignated as full
Name
Citation
State
units of the National Park System. For example, in 2009,
Benjamin Franklin
P.L. 92-551, 86 Stat. 1164,
Congress redesignated the Port Chicago Naval Magazine
PA
National Memorial
October 25, 1972
National Memorial as a unit of the National Park System
(P.L. 111-84). More recently, in 2016, President Obama
International Peace
Various
proclaimed the Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National
a
NDb
Garden
Monument as a unit of the System (81 Federal Register
Natural Bridge State
Sec. Decision Memo of
22503), more than 40 years after Congress had designated
VA
Park
August 29, 2016
the site as a national historic site (P.L. 93-487).
Ice Age National
P.L. 88-655, 78 Stat. 1087,
The only site previously designated as a unit of the National
WI
Scientific Reserve
October 13, 1964
Park System to be subsequently redesignated as an
affiliated area is the Oklahoma City National Memorial.
Inupiat Heritage
P.L. 104-333, 110 Stat.
AK
Congress initially authorized the site as a full unit of the
Center
4162, November 12, 1996c
park system (albeit one administered in partnership with a
Source: CRS. For a nearly complete list of NPS affiliated areas as of
private entity) in 1997 (P.L. 105-58). The site was
2016, see The National Parks: Index 2012-2016. Since publication of
redesignated as an affiliated area in 2004 (P.L. 108-199).
the Index, one additional affiliated area has been established (Parker’s
Crossroads Battlefield, P.L. 116-9).
Administration, Funding, and Ownership
a. International Peace Garden is recognized as a National Park
NPS is generally less involved in the funding and
System affiliated area by virtue of federal funding authorized in
management of affiliated areas than of park system units.
the Acts of October 25, 1949; June 28, 1954; August 28, 1958;
Typically, NPS directly administers units of the park
and October 26, 1974. Although the site was never officially
system, whereas it provides technical and financial
designated as an affiliated area in legislation, NPS has categorized
assistance to related areas, which are administered primarily
it as such since the first listing of affiliated areas in 1975.
by nonfederal entities. The degree to which NPS has a role
b. Portions of the International Peace Garden site are located in
in the management or administration of an affiliated area
the Canadian province of Manitoba.
typically is defined in the site’s enabling legislation or
c.
through the development of a general management plan.
The enabling legislation for the New Bedford Whaling National
Historical Park (P.L. 104-333) also established the Inupiat
Heritage Center (previously known as North Slope Borough
Federal funding for affiliated areas varies on a site-by-site
Cultural Center) as a related facility of the site. NPS
basis. Congress has authorized federal funding for some
subsequently categorized the site on its own as an affiliated area.
affiliated areas in enabling legislation or through the annual
appropriations process. Other sites receive no federal
At times, affiliated areas are designated following the
funding but receive technical assistance from NPS.
completion of a feasibility study by NPS. This may happen
in cases where Congress has directed NPS to conduct a
The majority of affiliated areas are nonfederally owned.
study to determine whether a given site is an appropriate
However, NPS directly owns portions of several listed
candidate for inclusion as a unit of the National Park
areas, including more than 90,000 acres of the Pinelands
System. According to P.L. 105-391, such a study will
National Reserve, the largest affiliated area by size.
determine whether an area under study (1) possesses
Recent Legislation
nationally significant natural or cultural resources and (2) is
a suitable and feasible addition to the system. If the study
In the 116th Congress, P.L. 116-9 established Parker’s
determines that a site meets the criteria for national
Crossroads Battlefield as an affiliated area, designating the
significance but is not suitable or feasible for NPS
City of Parkers Crossroads and the Tennessee Historical
management as a unit of the park system, the site may be
Commission as joint management entities for the site. In the
recommended for affiliated status. In at least one instance,
115th Congress, S. 62 and H.R. 362 would have established
NPS recommended a site for inclusion as a park unit and
the January 8th National Memorial as an affiliated area, to
Congress instead opted to establish the site as an affiliated
commemorate the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle
area. In 1991, NPS conducted a feasibility study for the
Giffords and 18 others in 2011. H.R. 199 would have
directed the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a feasibility
Thomas Cole National Historic Site and determined that the
site was suitable for inclusion under full unit status.
study for the designation of Chicano Park and its murals in
However, in 1999, Congress chose to designate the site as
San Diego, CA, as either a national historic landmark or an
an affiliated area (P.L. 106-146). Some recent legislation
affiliated area.
has directed NPS to conduct studies specifically aimed at
https://crsreports.congress.gov
National Park Service Affiliated Areas: An Overview
IF11281
Mark K. DeSantis, Analyst in Natural Resources Policy
Disclaimer
This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff to
congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of Congress.
Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other than public understanding of information that has
been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in connection with CRS’s institutional role. CRS Reports, as a work of the
United States Government, are not subject to copyright protection in the United States. Any CRS Report may be
reproduced and distributed in its entirety without permission from CRS. However, as a CRS Report may include
copyrighted images or material from a third party, you may need to obtain the permission of the copyright holder if you
wish to copy or otherwise use copyrighted material.
https://crsreports.congress.gov | IF11281 · VERSION 1 · NEW