National Park Service Affiliated Areas: An Overview
Updated December 26, 2023
National Park Service Affiliated Areas: An Overview
In addition to managing the 428 units of the National Park
meet the same criteria for national significance as national
System, the National Park Service (NPS) manages or assists
landmarks or potential units of the national park system.”
with other areas that are linked in importance and purpose
However, NPS never finalized the proposed regulations.
to this system. These related areas may be recognized by
Congress and receive assistance from NPS but are typically
In 1990, NPS delivered a report to Congress in pursuance
owned and administered primarily by nonfederal entities.
of P.L. 100-336, outlining some of the difficulties in
Among these related areas are 27 sites that NPS has
classifying areas where NPS does not directly administer
classified under the title of affiliated areas. NPS defines
the area but has some special cooperative arrangement.
affiliated areas as locations that “preserve significant
“Areas have been classified as affiliated because they did
properties outside the National Park System … [and that]
not fit the definition of a park system unit rather than
draw on technical or financial aid from the National Park
because they did meet some clearly defined criteria,” the
Service” (National Parks: Index 2012-2016, p. 118).
report stated. In turn, the report recommended that
Congress recognize the affiliated area category and endorse
History of Affiliated Area Status
the criteria set forth by NPS in the report, which largely
The standard by which NPS categorizes affiliated areas has
replicated the 1988 proposed regulations. To date, Congress
evolved over the years. In 1953, Congress passed
has not established a legal definition or criteria for the
legislation distinguishing between the “National Park
“affiliated area” status.
System” and “miscellaneous areas administered in
connection therewith”—that is, those properties not directly
Designation Criteria
managed by the NPS but over which NPS exercised some
NPS established eligibility criteria for affiliated area status
administrative responsibilities through cooperative
in the NPS Management Policies 2006 (Section 1.3.4).
agreements (Aug. 8, 1953, 67 Stat. 496). In 1970, however,
These criteria are similar to those proposed by NPS in 1988
Congress removed references to such “miscellaneous areas”
and 1990. To be eligible, proposed areas must
(P.L. 91-383) and amended the definition of national park
system to include all lands and waters “administered by”
• meet the same standards for significance and suitability
NPS. In 1975, NPS issued the National Parks: Index (an
that apply to units of the National Park System;
official list of system areas that NPS publishes from time to
• require special recognition or technical assistance
time), in which the agency classified nine sites under the
beyond what is available through existing NPS
new designation of affiliated areas, citing the 1970
programs;
amendments as the need for this new classification for sites
“not officially recognized as units of the National Park
• be managed in accordance with the policies and
System itself.” In the years following, NPS published
standards that apply to units of the system; and
updated versions of the National Parks: Index, each
• be assured of sustained resource protection, as
including a list of sites categorized under the affiliated area
documented in a formal agreement between the NPS
designation. Despite this, in the years following, there was
and the nonfederal management entity.
little consistency in how NPS determined which sites fell
into this categorization. For example, sometimes the
Designation Process
affiliated category included designations such as national
More than half of the 27 existing affiliated areas were
heritage areas and trails in the National Trails System,
established legislatively through acts of Congress. Other
while at other points NPS excluded these areas from the
areas were established administratively, generally by the
affiliated categorization.
Secretary of the Interior under the authority of the Historic
Sites Act of 1935 (54 U.S.C. §§320101 et seq.).
In 1988, Congress passed legislation directing NPS to
Historically, neither Congress nor the Secretary identified
deliver a report defining the “criteria for the elements of
these sites as affiliated areas in establishing laws or
national significance and other factors necessary for a
secretarial orders. Instead, sites were designated with
proposed area to be considered appropriate for inclusion as
varying titles (e.g., national memorial, national historic site)
an affiliated area” (P.L. 100-336). Later that year, NPS
with certain administrative and management responsibilities
proposed regulations that would have created such criteria.
for NPS specified on a case-by-case basis. Starting in the
The proposed regulations described affiliated areas as “a
late 1990s, some laws were enacted that specifically
small group of nationally significant areas … protected and
established sites as affiliated areas. The Secretary of the
managed by other organizations and agencies but [that]
Interior has also identified some recent administratively
have some formal financial or legal relationship with the
designated sites as affiliated areas.
National Park Service” (53 Federal Register 32115). NPS
specified that, to be eligible for affiliated status, “areas must
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The earliest-designated existing affiliated area is the
Members have requested that NPS conduct reconnaissance
Jamestown National Historic Site. The site was designated
surveys to determine whether a given site would be
on December 18, 1940, by an administrative action in
appropriate for affiliated area status.
which the Secretary of the Interior called for “a unified
program of development and administration” between NPS
Some sites previously designated or categorized as
and the Association for the Preservation of Virginia
affiliated areas have been removed from this classification.
Antiquities. The association continues to own and operate
Sometimes this removal resulted from a shift in how NPS
this site. The most recent sites established as affiliated areas
defined affiliated areas, as was the case with several
are the Eutaw Springs Battlefield and the Kettle Creek
national heritage areas and early units of the National Trails
Battlefield, both designated via a decision memorandum
System. Other sites previously categorized as affiliated
issued by the Secretary in 2021.
areas were redesignated as full units of the park system. For
example, in 2009, Congress redesignated Port Chicago
Table 1. Examples of NPS Affiliated Areas
Naval Magazine National Memorial as a system unit (P.L.
111-84). In 2016, NPS acquired the Sewall-Belmont House
Area Name
Designation Citation
State
in Washington, DC, and President Obama subsequently
Benjamin Franklin
P.L. 92-551, 86 Stat. 1164,
PA
established the Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National
National Memorial
October 25, 1972
Monument as a unit of the system (81 Federal Register
22503) more than 40 years after Congress had designated
International Peace
Variousa
NDb
the site as a national historic site (P.L. 93-487).
Garden
Natural Bridge State
Secretarial Decision Memo
VA
The only site previously designated as a park system unit to
Park
of August 29, 2016
be redesignated as an affiliated area is the Oklahoma City
National Memorial. Congress initially authorized the site as
Ice Age National
P.L. 88-655, 78 Stat. 1087,
WI
a system unit (albeit one administered in partnership with a
Scientific Reserve
October 13, 1964
private entity) in 1997 (P.L. 105-58). Congress redesignated
the site as an affiliated area in 2004 (P.L. 108-199).
Inupiat Heritage
P.L. 104-333, 110 Stat.
AK
Center
4162, November 12, 1996c
Administration, Funding, and Ownership
Source: CRS. For a complete list of NPS affiliated areas, see NPS,
Affiliated areas have varying management and funding
“About Us: National Park System.”
arrangements depending on any specific enabling
a. International Peace Garden is recognized as a National Park
legislation, cooperative agreements, and/or management
System–affiliated area by virtue of federal funding authorized in
plans. In general, NPS is less involved in the funding and
the Acts of October 25, 1949; June 28, 1954; August 28, 1958;
management of affiliated areas than in park system units.
and October 26, 1974.
Typically, NPS directly administers units of the park
b. Portions are located in the Canadian province of Manitoba.
system, whereas it provides technical and sometimes
c. The enabling legislation for the New Bedford Whaling National
financial assistance to affiliated areas, which are
Historical Park (P.L. 104-333) also established the Inupiat
administered primarily by nonfederal entities.
Heritage Center (previously known as North Slope Borough
Cultural Center) as a “related facility” of the site.
Federal funding for affiliated areas varies on a site-by-site
basis. Congress has authorized federal funding for some
At times, Congress has designated affiliated areas following
affiliated areas in enabling legislation or through the annual
the completion of a special resource study by NPS.
appropriations process. Other sites receive no federal
Typically, NPS conducts such studies pursuant to
funding but receive technical assistance from NPS. In
congressional direction to determine whether a given site is
general, administratively designated sites do not receive
an appropriate candidate for inclusion as a unit of the park
federal funding unless Congress specifically appropriates
system. According to P.L. 105-391, a special resource study
funding for them.
determines whether an area under study (1) possesses
nationally significant natural or cultural resources and (2) is
The majority of affiliated areas are nonfederally owned.
a suitable and feasible addition to the system. If the study
However, NPS does own portions of several areas,
determines that a site meets the criteria for national
including more than 90,000 acres of the Pinelands National
significance but is not suitable or feasible for NPS
Reserve in New Jersey, the largest affiliated area by size.
management as a unit of the park system, NPS might
recommend the site for affiliated status. Members have
Pending Designations
introduced legislation directing NPS to conduct special
In 2022, Congress authorized the establishment of five
resource studies to determine the feasibility of a site for
affiliated areas associated with the Brown v. Board of
affiliated status (e.g., H.R. 486 in the 116th Congress).
Education National Historical Park (collectively referred to
as the “Brown v. Board of Education Affiliated Areas”).
Affiliated site designation may also arise from less formal,
Establishment of these areas—located in multiple states—
preliminary studies conducted by NPS at the request of
was to be made following the identification by the
Members of Congress. Similar to special resource studies,
Secretary of an “appropriate management entity” for each
these reconnaissance surveys are typically used to
site (P.L. 117-123). NPS has indicated that no secretarial
determine whether a given site would meet the criteria for
determination has been made to date. As such, these sites
addition to the park system and, if so, would warrant further
are not currently included among the 27 affiliated areas.
study through a full special resource study. Recently, some
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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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