The National Park Service and the Smithsonian Institution have announced a new partnership to share responsibility for selected National Park Service natural history collections, making them more readily available to researchers through the Smithsonian.

Collections will continue to be owned by the National Park Service but will be in the permanent custodial care of the Smithsonian Institution. The agreement formalizing the relationship was signed Wednesday by Director Jarvis and the Smithsonian’s Under Secretary for Science Eva J. Pell at the National Museum of Natural History.

“This agreement benefits science, the American people, and the long-standing and historic relationship between our two organizations,” said Jarvis. “Together we are building a collection that will become an extraordinary tool for the scientific community to study biodiversity, evolution, and the distinctive character of national park ecosystems.”

The Smithsonian echoed the significance of the new agreement. "Two venerable institutions long known for protecting the nation's heritage, are now working together to enhance care and access to specimens that document the natural environment of our national parks," said Eva Pell, undersecretary for science at the Smithsonian.

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