Research Policies and Guidance

Invertebrate research at Herbert Hoover National Historic Site

NPS photo

Every day, employees of the National Park Service faithfully implement Federal laws, regulations, and policies to conserve parks and help the public enjoy them. Their service includes encouraging, managing, applying, and communicating research in parks. National parks are inspiring and enjoyable places to visit in part because research increases understanding and informs conservation actions.

For researchers, it can be helpful to know some of the legal context for park-based science. Below are brief descriptions of key laws, regulations, and policies, followed by guidance on how to comply with them.

Principal Federal Laws

Federal laws that directly shape operations of the National Park Service are collected and codified in U.S. Code, Title 54.

54 USC § 100101. This section comes from the 1916 National Park Service Organic Act, which created the NPS. It defines the purpose of the NPS as “to conserve the scenery, natural and historic objects, and wild life in the System units and to provide for the enjoyment of the scenery, natural and historic objects, and wild life in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.” Everything that NPS employees do -- including permitting and managing research activities -- advances that mission of conservation and public enjoyment.

54 USC §§ 100701-100707. These sections come from the 1998 National Parks Omnibus Management Act. Among other things, the law affirmatively provides NPS a research mandate and makes parks available for research by external scientists and scholars. It is the main legal authority for research permitting and reporting. Specifically, the law directs the Secretary of the Interior, through the NPS, to:

• continually improve the ability of the Service to provide state-of-the-art management, protection, and interpretation of, and research on, the resources of the System.

• ensure that management of System units is enhanced by the availability and utilization of a broad program of the highest quality science and information.

• establish cooperative study units [with colleges, universities, etc.] to conduct multi-disciplinary research and develop integrated information products on the resources of the System, or the larger region of which System units are a part.

• undertake a program of inventory and monitoring of System resources to establish baseline information and to provide information on the long-term trends in the condition of System resources.

• ensure the full and proper utilization of the results of scientific study for System unit management decisions.

Given the directive to provide for research on resources, the law allows the Secretary of the Interior to:

• consider [and approve or deny] requests from Federal or non-Federal public or private agencies, organizations, individuals, or other entities for the use of any System unit for purposes of scientific study.

• negotiate for and enter into equitable, efficient benefit-sharing arrangements with the research community and private industry.

54 USC §§102501-102504. These sections pertain to museum objects, which include items like natural history specimens (rocks, soils, plants, feathers, insects, etc.) collected in a park and retained in a research collection. Such objects remain protected Federal property as described in the Organic Act mentioned above, and they can be loaned to "responsible public or private organizations, institutions, or agencies" only under conditions that protect the public's interest in them. This law underlies the collections-management requirements of permits given to researchers who collect and retain specimens.

Principal Federal Regulations

In order to implement laws enacted by Congress, the NPS develops regulations that are published in the Code of Federal Regulations. Ones directly germane to research and collecting include the following.

36 CFR 2.1, Preservation of Natural, Cultural, and Archeological Resources. This regulation generally prohibits a wide range of activities that can damage the resources that NPS is legally required to conserve. If you are familiar with the saying "take only photographs, leave only footprints" then you will recognize the purpose of the regulation.

36 CFR 2.5, Research Specimens. This regulation acknowledges that the benefits of research can warrant an exception to the prohibitions mentioned above. It allows and governs the collection of specimens in parks for research purposes at the discretion of the superintendent and in accordance with applicable laws and policies.

• Collecting in an NPS unit without an NPS research and collecting permit is prohibited.

• When scientific activities involve collecting specimens, a permit is issued only to an "official representative of a reputable scientific or educational institution or a State or Federal agency."

• Specimens put into a collection or display must bear NPS museum labels and their catalog numbers must be registered with the NPS.

• Specimens and data from consumed specimens will be made publicly available and reports or other publications must be filed with the NPS.

Other Federal Laws

Many additional laws and regulations relate to research activities of particular types, locations, and topics. They govern what a researcher and the NPS can or must do in certain circumstances like excavating an archeological site, surveying park visitors, or taking blood samples from seals. Often, they require additional types of permits and permissions. To navigate these laws, please communicate with the park’s research coordinator. Examples include:

• Animal Welfare Act
• Archaeological Resources Protection Act
• Endangered Species Act
• Expanding Public Lands Outdoor Recreation Experiences Act
• Federal Cave Resources Protection Act
• Marine Mammal Protection Act
• Migratory Bird Treaty Act
• National Environmental Policy Act
• Paleontological Resources Preservation Act
• Paperwork Reduction Act
• Wilderness Act

NPS Management Policies

The NPS develops Management Policies on the basis of federal laws, regulations, Executive Orders, Secretarial Orders, and related foundations. Management Policies that apply to research are described in these links.

• Natural Resource Studies and Collections
• Cultural Resource Research
• Social Science Studies
• A variety of other policies can be reviewed on the NPS Policy website.

Policies for Scientific Integrity

The Department of the Interior and the National Park Service have established policies to ensure the quality and integrity of scientific information.

• The Department's website on scientific and scholarly activities is a starting point for learning more about these policies.
• Director’s Order #79: Integrity of Scientific and Scholarly Activities (pdf, 8 pages) establishes and defines policies, standards, and procedures pertaining to the National Park Service.

Permitting Research in Parks

• NPS uses the Research Permit and Reporting System (RPRS) to track all aspects of park research projects. See the detailed directions on how to use RPRS.

• If you are considering a park-based research project, please read Research and Collecting Permit Overview

• All research permits come with a common set of General Conditions. You may want to review these before applying for a permit.

• Some types of cultural research projects, such as archeology, may require other types of permits not administered through RPRS. Learn more about conducting cultural science research.

Guidelines for Specimen Collection

• See Researcher Resources for Specimen Collections, which includes templates and instructions for the transfer of collections data, and information on repository agreements, including specifics on collecting and depositing threatened or endangered animal tissue samples.
• View the Research and Collecting Permit FAQs

Guidelines for Reporting

If you hold a research permit, you must submit two types of reports. These reports make scientific information about public lands available to broad audiences and are part of the rationale for permitting research in NPS units. The park will review them and, if they are consistent with standards for information quality and privacy, will typically post them to NPS’s public archive IRMA DataStore.

1. An Investigator’s Annual Report (IAR) each year that the permit is active. The IAR is a brief summary of activities and results, if any, in that year.
2. Copies of final reports, peer-reviewed publications, published theses, conference abstracts, or other substantive documents after the completion of a study.

In addition, a park may require that you provide copies of data, field notes, maps, photographs, and other “raw” information developed during your study. If so, the requirement will be described on your permit.

Guidelines for Commercial Use of Research Results

Although NPS issues Scientific Research and Collecting Permits solely for scientific and educational purposes, some research results have potential commercial value. As stated in the General Conditions for a Scientific Research and Collecting Permit, commercial applications of research results (such as a therapeutic agent derived from an organism collected in a park) are prohibited unless the permittee has entered into an approved benefit-sharing agreement with the NPS. Learn more about benefits sharing.