Summary of Areas for Potential Addition to the National Park System

Since 2012, a number of studies authorized by Congress and completed by the National Park Service have found that the resource studied met the criteria required for national park unit designation. This list includes only study resources that met all required criteria and that have not yet been designated by Congress, nor established as a national monument by presidential proclamation.

• Fort Ontario Special Resource Study (New York)
• Julius Rosenwald and the Rosenwald Schools Special Resource Study (Nationwide)
• Mississippi Civil Rights Sites Special Resource Study (Mississippi)
• Rim of the Valley Corridor Special Resource Study (California)
• Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail Special Resource Study (Alabama)
• West Hunter Street Baptist Church Special Resource Study (Georgia)

List of Areas Recommended for Study

In addition to being tasked with conducting authorized studies, US Code (54 USC 100507) also directs the Secretary of the Interior to recommend areas for study for their potential to be included in the National Park System. Of the multiple reconnaissance surveys completed by the National Park Service since 2012, a number of surveys have resulted in Congressional legislation directing a full study.

Two surveys, the Cahokia Mounds Reconnaissance Survey (2019) and the Black Panther Party Reconnaissance Survey (2024), found that their respective study areas have the potential to meet established National Park System criteria for new national park units and recommend that a special resource study be authorized by Congress to fully evaluate them using a special resource study process. Congress has yet to authorize special resource studies of these areas. Email us for more information about this survey report.

The National Park Service continues to use the National Park Service System Plan, completed in 2017 and transmitted to Congress in 2022, for guidance on identifying important resource gaps, underrepresented cultural resources and values, and underrepresented natural resources in the National Park System.

Additional Resources