Updated May 19, 2023
National Park Service Affiliated Areas: An Overview
In addition to managing the 423 units of the National Park
In 1990, NPS delivered a report to Congress in compliance
System, the National Park Service (NPS) manages or assists
with P.L. 100-336, outlining some of the difficulties in
with other areas that are linked in importance and purpose
classifying areas where NPS does not directly administer
to the larger system. These related areas may be recognized
the area but has some special cooperative arrangement.
by Congress and may receive assistance from NPS but are
“Areas have been classified as affiliated because they did
typically owned and administered primarily by nonfederal
not fit the definition of a park system unit rather than
entities. Among these related areas are 27 sites that NPS
because they did meet some clearly defined criteria,” the
has classified under the title of affiliated areas. NPS defines
report stated.” In turn, the report recommended that
affiliated areas as locations that “preserve significant
Congress recognize the affiliated area category and endorse
properties outside the National Park System ... [and that]
the criteria set forth by NPS in the report, which largely
draw on technical or financial aid from the National Park
replicated the 1988 proposed regulations. To date, Congress
Service” (National Parks: Index 2012-2016, p. 118).
has not established a legal definition or criteria for the
affiliated area status.
History of Affiliated Area Status
The standard by which NPS categorizes affiliated areas has
Designation Criteria
evolved over the years. In 1970, Congress passed
NPS established eligibility criteria for affiliated area status
legislation that specifically excluded certain “miscellaneous
in the NPS Management Policies 2006 (Section 1.3.4).
areas” from the definition of National Park System units
These criteria are similar to those proposed in 1988 and
(P.L. 91-383). These areas were generally considered to be
1990. To be eligible, proposed areas must
properties and sites that were neither federally owned nor
directly administered by NPS but that received some federal
• meet the same standards for significance and suitability
assistance. In 1975, NPS issued the National Parks: Index
that apply to units of the National Park System;
(an official list of system areas that NPS publishes from
• require some special recognition or technical assistance
time to time), in which the agency classified nine of these
beyond what is available through existing NPS
miscellaneous areas under the new designation of affiliated
programs;
areas. In the years following, NPS published updated
•
versions of the National Parks: Index, each including a list
be managed in accordance with the policies and
of sites categorized under the affiliated area designation.
standards that apply to units of the system; and
Despite this, there was little consistency in how NPS
• be assured of sustained resource protection, as
determined which sites fell into this categorization. At
documented in a formal agreement between the service
times, the status included designations such as national
and the nonfederal management entity.
heritage areas, rivers in the National Wild and Scenic
Rivers System, and trails in the National Trails System; at
Designation Process
other points, NPS excluded these areas from the affiliated
More than half of the 27 existing affiliated areas were
categorization.
established legislatively through an act of Congress. Other
areas were established administratively, generally by the
In 1988, Congress passed legislation directing NPS to
Secretary of the Interior under the authority of the Historic
deliver a report defining the “criteria for the elements of
Sites Act of 1935 (54 U.S.C. §§320101 et seq.).
national significance and other factors necessary for a
Historically, neither Congress nor the Secretary identified
proposed area to be considered appropriate for inclusion as
these sites as affiliated areas in establishing laws or
an affiliated area” (P.L. 100-336). Later that year, NPS
secretarial orders. Instead, sites were designated with
proposed regulations that would have defined and set such
varying titles (e.g., national memorial, national historic site)
criteria. The proposed regulations described affiliated areas
with certain administrative and management responsibilities
as “a small group of nationally significant areas ... protected
for NPS specified on a case-by-case basis. Starting in the
and managed by other organizations and agencies but [that]
late 1990s, Congress enacted some laws that specifically
have some formal financial or legal relationship with the
established sites as affiliated areas. The Secretary has
National Park Service,” (53 Federal Register 32115). To be
similarly identified some recent administratively designated
eligible for affiliated area status, NPS specified that, “areas
sites as affiliated areas.
must meet the same criteria for national significance as
national landmarks or potential units of the national park
The earliest-designated existing affiliated area is the
system.” However, NPS never finalized the proposed
Jamestown National Historic Site. The site was designated
regulations.
on December 18, 1940, by an administrative action, in
which the Secretary of the Interior called for “a unified
program of development and administration” between NPS
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and the Association for the Preservation of Virginia
reconnaissance surveys with the specific intention of
Antiquities (APVA). The APVA continues to own and
determining whether a given site would be appropriate for
operate this site. The most recent sites established as
affiliated area status.
affiliated areas are the Eutaw Springs Battlefield and the
Kettle Creek Battlefield, both designated via a decision
Some sites previously designated or categorized as an
memorandum issued by the Secretary in 2021.
affiliated area have been removed from this classification.
Sometimes, this removal resulted from a shift in how NPS
Table 1. Examples of NPS Affiliated Areas
defines affiliated areas, as was the case with several
national heritage areas and early units of the National Trails
Area Name
Designation Citation
State
System. Other sites previously categorized as affiliated
Benjamin Franklin
P.L. 92-551, 86 Stat. 1164,
areas were redesignated as full units of the park system. For
PA
National Memorial
October 25, 1972
example, in 2009, Congress redesignated Port Chicago
Naval Magazine National Memorial as a system unit (P.L.
International Peace
Various
111-84). In 2016, NPS acquired the Sewall-Belmont House
a
NDb
Garden
in Washington, DC, and President Obama subsequently
Natural Bridge State
Secretarial Decision Memo
established the Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National
VA
Monument as a unit of the system (81 Federal Register
Park
of August 29, 2016
22503), more than 40 years after Congress had designated
Ice Age National
P.L. 88-655, 78 Stat. 1087,
the site as a national historic site (P.L. 93-487).
WI
Scientific Reserve
October 13, 1964
The only site previously designated as a park system unit to
Inupiat Heritage
P.L. 104-333, 110 Stat.
AK
be redesignated as an affiliated area is the Oklahoma City
Center
4162, November 12, 1996c
National Memorial. Congress initially authorized the site as
Source: CRS. For a complete list of NPS affiliated areas, see NPS,
a system unit (albeit one administered in partnership with a
“About Us – National Park System,” at https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/
private entity) in 1997 (P.L. 105-58). Congress redesignated
national-park-system.htm.
the site as an affiliated area in 2004 (P.L. 108-199).
a. International Peace Garden is recognized as a National Park
System affiliated area by virtue of federal funding authorized in
Administration, Funding, and Ownership
the Acts of October 25, 1949; June 28, 1954; August 28, 1958;
Affiliated areas have varying management and funding
and October 26, 1974.
arrangements depending on their specific enabling
b. Portions of the International Peace Garden site are located in
legislation (if any), cooperative agreements, and
the Canadian province of Manitoba.
management plans. In general, NPS is less involved in the
c. The enabling legislation for the New Bedford Whaling National
funding and management of affiliated areas than that of
Historical Park (P.L. 104-333) also established the Inupiat
park system units. Typically, NPS directly administers units
Heritage Center (previously known as North Slope Borough
of the park system but provides only technical and
Cultural Center) as a “related facility” of the site.
sometimes financial assistance to affiliated areas, which are
administered primarily by nonfederal entities.
At times, Congress has designated affiliated areas following
the completion of a special resource study by NPS.
Federal funding for affiliated areas varies on a site-by-site
Typically, NPS conducts such studies pursuant to
basis. Congress has authorized federal funding for some
congressional direction to determine whether a given site is
affiliated areas in enabling legislation or through the annual
an appropriate candidate for inclusion as a unit of the park
appropriations process. Other sites receive no federal
system. According to P.L. 105-391, a special resource study
funding but receive technical assistance from NPS. In
determines whether an area under study (1) possesses
general, administratively designated sites do not receive
nationally significant natural or cultural resources and (2) is
federal funding unless Congress specifically appropriates
a suitable and feasible addition to the system. If the study
funding for them.
determines that a site meets the criteria for national
significance but is not suitable or feasible for NPS
The majority of affiliated areas are nonfederally owned.
management as a unit of the park system, NPS may
However, NPS does own portions of several listed areas,
recommend the site for affiliated status. Members have
including more than 90,000 acres of the Pinelands National
introduced legislation that would direct NPS to conduct
Reserve in New Jersey, the largest affiliated area by size.
special resource studies specifically aimed at determining
Pending Designations
the feasibility of a site for affiliated status (e.g., H.R. 486 in
the 116th Congress).
In 2022, Congress authorized the establishment of five
affiliated areas associated with the Brown v. Board of
Affiliated site designation also may arise from less formal,
Education National Historical Park (collectively referred to
preliminary studies conducted by NPS at the request of
as the Brown v. Board of Education Affiliated Areas).
Members of Congress. Similar to special resource studies,
Establishment of these areas—located in multiple states—
these reconnaissance surveys typically are used to
was to be made following the identification of an
“appropriate management entity” for each site (
determine whether a given site would meet the criteria for
P.L. 117-
addition to the park system and, if so, would warrant further
123). NPS has indicated that as of May 2023, no secretarial
study through a full special resource study. Recently, some
determination has been made. As such, these sites are not
Members have requested that NPS conduct certain
currently included among the 27 affiliated areas.
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National Park Service Affiliated Areas: An Overview

IF11281
Mark K. DeSantis, Analyst in Natural Resources Policy


Disclaimer
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https://crsreports.congress.gov | IF11281 · VERSION 6 · UPDATED

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