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San Juan
Island NHP
P.O. Box 429
Friday Harbor, WA
98250
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(360)378-2240
(360) 378-2902
(Wed.-Sun.)
FAX:
(360)378-2615
(360) 378-2996
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Mike_Vouri@
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About
this Plan
The
Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA)
San
Juan Island National Historical Park
The
National Park Service
III
Strategies: Accomplishing Goals
Organization/Financial Resources
Facilities
Program Evaluations
V
Goals
Goal
Categories and Mission Goals
Workforce
Diversity
Long-Term Goals
Ia1B
Exotic Species
Ia5 Historic Structures
Ia6 Museum Collections
Ia07 Cultural Landscapes
Ib3 Vital Signs
IIa1 *Visitor Satisfaction
IIa2 *Visitor Safety
IIb1 *Visitor Understanding and
Appreciation
IVa3 *Workforce Development and Performance
IVa6A *Employee Safety
IVa6B *Employee Safety (Workers Compensation)
IVb1 *Volunteer Hours
This is the Strategic Plan for San Juan Island National Historical Park, a unit of the National Park System, administered by the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Our Plan includes our mission statement, derived from the legislation establishing and affecting this park. It contains our goals organized under goal categories and mission goals (the “in perpetuity” goals that encompass everything we do). It also contains long-term goals that describe in quantified, measurable ways examples of what we plan to achieve in the six-year period covered by this plan, October 1,1999 through September 30, 2005, federal fiscal years FY2000-2005.
San Juan Island National Historical Park’s Strategic Plan ensures that all park operations support the mission and goals of the park and of the National Park Service. This plan provides a visible link between the allocation of staff and funds to specific six-year goals. The Strategic Plan is intended to provide better planning, better management, and better communication with all of our constituencies and stakeholders, and to demonstrate accountability.
Each year that this Strategic Plan is in effect there also will be an Annual Performance Plan covering one-year increments of each long-term goal. This annual work plan will be available by January 1st each year. In addition to the Annual Performance Plan, we also use internal management documents to guide daily operations throughout the year. They detail the specific activities, services, and products that will be carried out or produced to accomplish goal results, and the dollars and people that will do it.
Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA)
This Strategic Plan is written in part to fulfill the requirements of the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA). Performance management is a goal-driven management practice widely adopted by the private sector, state and local governments, and many others. GPRA requires federal agencies to develop 1) a Strategic Plan, 2) Annual Performance Plans, and 3) Annual Performance Reports to more effectively manage their work to achieve their missions, and to more effectively communicate with the American people and the Congress. Additional copies of the park’s Strategic Plan are available at the Superintendent’s office at San Juan Island National Historical Park, P.O. Box 429, Friday Harbor, WA 98250. We welcome questions and comments, which should be directed to the Superintendent at this address.
San Juan Island National Historical Park
San Juan Island National Historical Park is a vital part of America’s national system of parks, monuments, battlefields, recreation areas, and other natural and cultural resources. Established by Act of Congress in 1966, San Juan Island National Historical Park is located on San Juan Island, between the southern tip of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, and the United States mainland. Containing 1,752 acres, the park preserves and interprets the site of the Pig War and the historic events that occurred here from 1853 to 1874, culminating in the peaceful arbitration of an international boundary dispute and a lasting peace between the United States, Canada, and Great Britain. San Juan Island NHP contains two National Historic Landmarks and an abundance of natural habitats, cultural landscapes, historic buildings, recreational resources, and sweeping vistas, and is a valuable part of America’s heritage available to over 270,000 visitors each year for their experience, enjoyment, understanding, and appreciation.
The National Park Service (NPS), established in 1916, preserves outstanding examples of the best of America’s natural, cultural, and recreational resources for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations. These resources of national significance constitute a significant part of America’s heritage, character, and future. The National Park System consists of 379 units park units located in nearly every state and territory of the nation. The National Park Service not only directly preserves these treasures, it also makes them available to millions of visitors from throughout the country and the world every year. NPS also has legislated responsibilities for natural and cultural resource conservation outside national parks in partnership with state and local governments, tribes, and non-profit organizations. These programs provide a variety of technical and/or financial assistance.
In consultation with Congress, OMB and other interested parties, the NPS developed its own implementation process to comply with the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA), A copy of the current NPS Strategic Plan is available on the Internet at http://www.nps.gov/planning.
It
is the mission of the National Park Service to preserve the cultural history
and natural values of San Juan Island National Historical Park. The park
interprets and commemorates the historic events that occurred here from
1853 to 1874, culminating in the peaceful arbitration of an international
boundary dispute and a lasting peace between the United States, Canada,
and Great Britain.
III. Strategies: Accomplishing Goals
San Juan Island National Historical Park’s strategic plan for FY 2000 – FY 2005 will be accomplished using the organization, facilities, and financial resources summarized below. These paragraphs should give our partners, stakeholders, and the public a better understanding of what we are trying to accomplish, and how we plan to do it.
Organization and Financial Resources: As of FY2000, the park has a base operating budget of $569,000. Staff includes 8 permanent positions, 1 intake trainee, and up to 6 seasonal positions. Park staff will be supplemented by approximately 6,000 hours of volunteer service annually. Achieving the park’s strategic plan goals is dependent on base funding and on additional project funds, volunteer assistance, and partnerships.
San
Juan Island National Historical Park is led by a superintendent. Staff
is organized into three operating divisions: Administration, Maintenance,
and Resource Management/Interpretation/Protection. Administration includes
1 administrative officer and 1 administrative technician. The Maintenance
division is made up of 1 maintenance foreman, 1 maintenance worker, and
up to 3 seasonal maintenance workers. Staff in the Interpretation, Resource
Management, and Protection division includes 1 chief ranger, 1 lead interpreter,
1 intake trainee interpreter, 1 protection ranger, 1-2 seasonal interpreters,
1 seasonal biological technician, and 1 seasonal protection ranger. 8
volunteer park hosts are recruited every summer to staff 3 visitor contact
stations, participate in costumed interpretation, assist in trail patrol,
and help with a variety of park operations. Some 70 island residents volunteer
for the park in interpretation, resource management, and maintenance throughout
the year.
Professional and technical assistance is provided by the Columbia Cascades Support Office and the Pacific West Regional Office. The University of Washington Burke Museum and San Juan County will provide additional assistance through cooperative agreements, mutual aid agreements and contracts. The Northwest Interpretive Association will assist in helping accomplish education and visitor service goals through literature sales and donation. Additional partnerships with local and regional historical and environmental organizations will contribute to the accomplishing park goals in resource stewardship and education.
Facilities: Park facilities and infrastructure for accomplishing our goals include: one visitor center (with exhibits, AV, interpretive literature), two visitor contact stations with temporary exhibits, one central maintenance facility, one fire cache, two water treatment facilities, one central administrative office, six historic structures, approximately 11 miles of hiking trails, two self-guiding trails, 10 miles of roadways, and 3 picnic areas.
Please note that the goals in this plan assume a “flat budget.” Other than increases for inflation, we assumed no major increases in funding. Where increases in appropriations were known or are likely, they were taken into account. Where other funding sources (donations, fee revenues, etc.) were “reasonably assured”, they too were taken into consideration when setting performance targets. Obviously, limits on funding constrain what can be accomplished toward our goals and mission. GPRA, however, is distinctly not about discussing budget shortfalls or requesting or justifying additional funding. Rather it is about planning, managing, and communicating what we can accomplish with what we already have. Performance target numbers speak for themselves about how well funded we are to accomplish our mission, and where targets are low, additional budget discussions might be generated. But this is not the primary purpose of the plan.
Program Evaluations: The park will review the strategic plan annually and may make adjustments based on annual performance achievement and changes to funding levels and staffing. The strategic plan will also be reviewed and revised at least every three years as required by the GPRA law.
At the time of this plan’s submission, there are two vacancies in the park’s permanent staff in resource protection and maintenance. Consequently, the projected budget allocation and GPRA goal completion for this strategic plan will be dependent upon the speed with which the positions are filled. Additionally, to fulfill NPS directives to secure both a professional protection function (ranger careers) and a dedicated resource management function, a full-time position will be dedicated to each of these roles (previously each of these functions was partially covered by half a position). In FY 2000, the resource protection job will be filled. Within the time frame of this strategic plan, the park anticipates securing the additional base funding needed to fill the resource management specialist position. The park’s long term resource management goals will be scaled back pending the filling of this position.
An additional factor that affects completion of this year’s goals is the number of park seasonals the park is able to employ. The low vacancy rate and high costs of temporary housing on San Juan Island during the summer season have proven prohibitive to our ability to recruit and retain seasonal employees. Park hosts mitigate this difficulty within the interpretive division, but maintenance, protection, and resource management operations are all affected strongly by this variable.
The
popularity of the San Juan Island National Historical Park is expected
to continue and present even greater challenges both in terms of cultural
and natural resource preservation and visitor use. Visitation now
exceeds 270,000 and continues to increase. Additional factors affecting
performance include:
- The cost of maintaining and restoring natural and cultural resources are escalating.
- Burgeoning exotic vegetation altering the park’s cultural landscapes and endangering its native species.
- A significant increase in the number of projects requiring compliance reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act and/or Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act.
- The National Parks and Omnibus Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-391) established major new responsibilities for concessions management, employee training and career development, natural resources inventory and monitoring, and cooperative research studies.
Goal Categories and Mission Goals
The NPS performance management process requires all units of the NPS to organize goals and efforts under four goal categories in broad, nationwide, “in perpetuity” mission goals that state ideal future conditions. These mission goals encompass all we do and a brief explanation about each one is below.
Goal Category I: Preserve Park Resources
This category addresses all goals that relate to the condition of natural and cultural resources and the acquisition of knowledge from and about them. It includes the concepts of biological and cultural diversity to ensure park resources are preserved and interpreted in relationship to the broader ecosystem and cultural context that extend beyond the park to nearby lands. Park cultural context means that park resources are managed in relation to other historical events or cultural processes.
The long-term goals related to this category are shown in the next section and include the protection, restoration, or maintenance of ecosystems, historic structures and cultural landscapes, and museum collections. Mission Goal Ia focuses on the condition of these resources. Mission Goal Ib on obtaining and using scholarly and scientific knowledge about resources to make better informed decisions.
Ia Natural and cultural resources and associated values are protected, restored and maintained in good condition and managed within their broader ecosystem and cultural context.
Ib
The National Park Service contributes to knowledge about natural and cultural
resources and associated values; management decisions about resources
and visitors are based on adequate scholarly and scientific information.
Goal Category II:
Provide for the Public Use and Enjoyment and Visitor Experience of Parks
This category includes all goals for visitor satisfaction, enjoyment, safety, appreciation, and understanding. It includes the mandate found in the NPS Organic Act “to provide for the enjoyment of the [resources] in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.”
The
long-term goals related to this category are shown below and include programs,
facilities, services, and recreational opportunities affecting the enjoyment,
understanding and safety of visitors from all over the nation and the
world. Mission Goal IIa covers facilities and services such
as visitor centers, campgrounds, road and trails, recreational opportunities
and keeping visitors safe. Mission Goal IIb is about helping
visitors learn more about park resources and significance so they will
enjoy their visit more, support preserving this country’s heritage, and
gain a better understanding of the experiences and peoples that built
this nation.
.
IIa Visitors safely enjoy
and are satisfied with the availability, accessibility, diversity, and
quality of park facilities, services, and appropriate recreational opportunities.
IIb Park visitors and the general public understand and appreciate the preservation of and its resources for this and future generations.
Ensure Organizational Effectiveness
This category includes all goals that support the mission of the park and the NPS, and the focus is on governmental processes rather than the results. Goals in this category measure various workplace standards and cover those things that will help us be more responsive, efficient, effective, and accountable.
IVa The National Park Service uses current management practices, systems, and technologies to accomplish its mission.
IVb
The National Park Service increases its managerial capabilities
through initiatives and support from other agencies, organizations, and
individuals.
Workforce Diversity: Recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce remains a high priority for San Juan Island National Historical Park. The park will continue to seek opportunities and take active measures to recruit a diverse workforce over the next six years as positions become available. Efforts will continue to include advertising positions creatively and broadly so that we can recruit a highly qualified, diverse workforce. Measures taken to date include serving as a host park for the intake training program, advertising vacant positions broadly to encourage a diverse candidate pool, and training staff in workforce diversity policy and practices.
Long-Term Goals
Long-term goals are examples of how we will make progress toward the mission goals above, and how we will contribute to nationwide NPS goals during the period of this Plan. The numbering sequence for long-term goals follows that of the NPS Servicewide plan so that our contributions can “roll up nationally” into NPS accomplishments. Goal numbers may not be consecutive - where numbers are left out, an NPS goal does not apply to San Juan Island NHP. Associated goals that are similar to NPS goals but not identical with NPS criteria, optional goals, and goals specific to this park contain a zero (0) or an X in the number. Goal categories and mission goals are in regular type. Long-term goals are italicized.
Each
year, by January 1st we will also produce an Annual Performance Plan that
shows how much of each long-term goal we intend to accomplish during
that fiscal year. We will assess what we actually accomplished in
an Annual Performance Report at the end of each fiscal year.
Goal Category I Preserve Park Resources
Ia San Juan Island National Historical Park natural and cultural resources and associated values are protected, restored and maintained in good condition and managed within their broader ecosystem and cultural context.
Ia1B Exotic Vegetation Species - By September 30, 2005, exotic vegetation on 12.5 acres (25%) out of 50 acres of treatable invasive plant acreage in the park will be contained.
940
acres in the park are infested with 13 species of exotic plants. 50 of
these acres are classified as “treatable” and are in immediate need of
treatment to retain the character of the park. In past years the park
has worked to contain one of the most invasive of these species, tansy
ragwort, which covers 10 acres at the American Camp unit of the park.
The goal for FY00 – FY 05 is to continue to contain this and other invasive
species in their current distribution so that they do not invade any additional
park land, and to increase the area treated and contained to 12.5 acres.
This will require day labor to remove this species, which will be accomplished
through special project funding, and additional base funding to employ
a full time resource management specialist. Measuring goal achievement
and verification of measures will be by on-the-ground inspection.
Ia5 Historic Structures – By September 30, 2005, 14 of 23 park historic structures on the List of Classified Structures are in good condition.
The park has 23 structures on the List of Classified Structures (the NPS inventory and database of important historic structures). 13 of those structures are currently classified as in good condition. Additional work will be completed in FY2000 on one additional structure, the barracks building at English Camp. From FY 2000 – FY 2005, the park will invest staff time and base funding, and project funding where possible, to continue to maintain 14 of the 23 park historic structures in good condition. Measuring goal achievement and verification of measures will be by on-the-ground inspection and completion reports.
Ia6 By September 30, 2005, 120 (60%) of 200 listed preservation and protection conditions in park museum collections meet professional standards.
The
park has one of the most significant prehistoric archeological collections
in the Pacific Northwest. A portion of this collection is stored at the
University of Washington Burke Museum, and the bulk of the collection
is stored and curated by North Cascades National Park under an agreement
with San Juan Island National Historical Park. In FY00, a portion
of the park’s collection at the Burke currently stored in substandard
conditions was relocated to a storage facility at Marblemount. A loan
agreement will be completed for the portion of the park’s collection which
remains at the Burke Museum, and an updated agreement between San Juan
Island NHP and North Cascades will be completed. In addition, park staff
will work with North Cascades staff to complete planning/design for expanded
curatorial storage space at the Marblemount facility that meets NPS museum
collection standards. Collectively, these actions will improve the quality
of collection storage, and improve the park’s adherence to NPS museum
checklist standards. Currently, the park has 200 applicable museum
checklist standards. By FY2005, 120 of these standards should be met,
pending project funding. Measuring goal achievement and verification
of measures will be by completion of these tasks and inspection.
Ia07 By September 30, 2005, 33% of the cultural landscape treatments identified as management objectives in the Vegetation Management Plan (1993) are accomplished and maintained.
12
historic landscapes have been identified within the two National Historic
Landmarks in the park in the park’s Vegetation Management Plan.
In FY 2000, 3 ongoing cultural landscape treatments will be continued,
and 1 additional treatment will be completed. Between FY 2001-2005, 4
of these landscapes will be maintained as identified in the Vegetation
Management Plan. Measuring goal achievement and verification of
measures will be by completion of these tasks and on-the-ground inspection.
Ib San Juan Island National Historical Park contributes to knowledge about natural and cultural resources and associated values; management decisions about resources and visitors are based on adequate scholarly and scientific information.
Ib3 By September 30, 2005, San Juan Island NHP will have identified its vital signs for natural resource monitoring.
Vital
signs are indicators of the key ecological processes which collectively
capture the function of a healthy ecosystem. Identifying vital signs of
the park ecosystem and the well being of other resources of special concern
is the first step in tracking the status and trends of the park’s natural
resources. The park will pursue funding for and host a facilitated scoping
workshop to identify its vital signs before FY2005. Measuring goal achievement
will be by completion of a facilitated scoping workshop.
Goal Category II Provide for the Public Enjoyment and Visitor Experience of Parks
IIa Visitors safely enjoy and are satisfied with the park facilities, services and interpretive programs.
IIa1 By September 30, 2002, 95% or more of visitors are satisfied with the appropriateness and quality of park facilities, services, and recreational opportunities
Over 270,000 people visit San Juan Island National Historical Park annually. To maintain a high level of service and of visitor satisfaction, park facilities, roads, grounds, and trails must be constantly cleaned, repaired, and maintained. The park’s goal is to improve its current 94% visitor satisfaction rate to 95% by 2005. Completion reports and visitor responses on visitor survey cards measure accomplishment of this goal.
IIa2 By September 30, 2005, the number of San Juan Island NHP visitor accidents/incidents is reduced from the FY92-FY96 five-year annual average of six to four accidents/incidents annually.
The park’s baseline for visitor safety is 6 accidents/incidents per year. The target for FY2000 – FY2005 is to reduce this accident rate to no more than 4 visitor accidents/incidents per year. To improve the park’s ability to reduce visitor accidents, FY 2000 work includes filling the protection vacancy and maintaining regular foot patrols in the park; updating the emergency operations plan and ensuring staff are trained in hazard reporting procedures; and maintaining a trained staff member with a water treatment plant operator’s license to monitor drinking water supplies. The number of visitor incidents per year will measure goal achievement. Measuring the goal will be by documenting the number of incidents through case incident reports. Additional measurements of goal achievement will include certification of water treatment plant annual refresher training for the maintenance foreman, and certification of a water treatment plant operator’s license for the maintenance worker that will be hired this fiscal year.
IIb Park visitors and the general public understand and appreciate the preservation of parks and their resources for this and future generations.
IIb1 By September 30, 2005, 80% of park visitors understand and appreciate the significance of San Juan Island National Historical Park.
In
order to convey the little known story of San Juan Island National Historical
Park to its 270,000+ annual visitors, the park will offer high quality,
multi-faceted interpretation, including educational programs, interpretive
tours, visitor center operations, school programs, reenactments, and a
variety of print and electronic media. The park goal over the next
five years is to incrementally increase visitor understanding from the
existing level of 60% to 80%. This will be measured by the analyzing the
results of visitor survey cards.
Goal
Category IV
Ensure organizational effectiveness
IVa San Juan Island National Historical Park uses current management practices, systems, and technologies to accomplish its mission.
IVa3 By September 30, 2005, 100% of SAJH employee performance plans are linked to appropriate strategic and annual performance goals and position competencies.
San
Juan Island National Historical Park has 8 career employees and a varying
number of seasonal employees annually. The park’s goal is to ensure that
100% of employees’ – both career and seasonal – annual/seasonal performance
plans are linked to the park’s annual and strategic performance plan and
to position competencies (the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed
for the employee to perform effectively). This goal includes each
supervisor working with his/her staff to review essential competencies
(basic training needs), and documenting these needs clearly. Staff
will attend training as funds allow, based on the level of urgency (some
training is mandatory each year and is automatically at the top of the
park’s priority list, such as law enforcement refreshers and water treatment
plan operations refresher). The baseline number is the total number
of career and seasonal employees in any given year. This will be
measured by supervisors/managers certifying that Employee Performance
Plan and Results Reports are related to organizational goals set forth
in the park’s strategic plan.
IVa6A By September 30, 2005, the number of San Juan Island NHP employee lost time injuries is maintained at or reduced from the FY1992-FY1996 five-year annual average of one.
The
park will continue to implement the practices recommended in the
FY99 comprehensive safety assessment of park operations, and safety will
continue to be an emphasis at all employee meetings and divisional meetings.
Safety training for all staff will be conducted annually, and will remain
a number one priority. Accomplishment of this goal is measured through
the "Safety Management Iinformation System."
IVa6B By September 30, 2005, the number of San Juan Island NHP hours of Continuation of Pay will remain at zero.
The
park will continue to implement the safety practices necessary to maintain
a zero level of Continuation of Pay. Continuation of Pay hours are the
results of employees missing work due to on the job injuries or illnesses.
Results of this goal will keep COP costs for SAJH at zero dollars.
IVb The National Park Service increases its managerial resources through initiatives and support from other agencies, organizations, and individuals.
IVb1 By September 30, 2005, the number of San Juan Island NHP volunteer hours is increased by 10% (from 6,132 to 6,745 hours).
Volunteers
at San Juan Island National Historical Park are a vital support to park
operations, and enable the park to operate three visitor contact stations
full time during the busy summer season. In addition, volunteers work
with maintenance, resource management, and protection staff to help with
trail patrol, visitor contact, costumed interpretation, grounds maintenance,
research, natural resource projects, web site development, and many other
tasks. Specific tasks related to this goal over the next five years
include retaining the existing volunteer force and recruiting new volunteers
in a variety of disciplines. The goal for this category is measured
in number of volunteer hours, and is related to a baseline figure estimated
for 1997. The park will work to increase this 1997 figure incrementally
over the next five years, resulting in a 10% increase in volunteer hours.
Measuring the results of the goals outlined in this plan will be done on an annual basis. Each goal listed above describes the manner in which it will be measured. Goals are measured in a variety of ways, including a mix of visitor satisfaction and understanding surveys, site inspections, and completion reports.
The following park staff members helped to prepare this Strategic Plan:
Maureen
Briggs Administrative Officer
Bill Gleason Chief Ranger
Cicely Muldoon Superintendent
Mike Vouri Park Ranger
Darlene Wahl Park Ranger
