Centennial Initiative 2016

 

Centennial Vision

In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service in 2016, America invites the world to discover the meaning of national parks to their lives and inspires people to both experience and become devoted to these special places.

On August 25, 2006 – the 90th anniversary of the National Park Service – Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne launched the National Park Centennial Initiative to prepare national parks for another century of conservation, preservation and enjoyment. Since then the National Park Service asked citizens, park partners, experts and other stakeholders what they envisioned for a second century of national parks.

A nationwide series of more than 40 listening sessions produced more than 6,000 comments that helped to shape five centennial goals. The goals and vision were presented to President Bush and to the American people on May 31st in a report called The Future of America’s National Parks.

Every national park staff took their lead from this report and created local centennial strategies to describe their vision and desired accomplishments by 2016. This is just the first year, and there are many great things to come as the National Park Service prepares to celebrate 100 years!

To keep up with the Centennial Initiative and to experience the interactive version of The Future of America’s National Parks and special features please visit the centennial website at www.nps.gov/2016.

Centennial Strategy - Sitka National Historical Park

Approaching its 100th year as a National Park Service site, Sitka National Historical Park has a longstanding legacy as a place that people turn to for recreation, inspiration, and to connect with history, culture, and nature. In the 21st century, Sitka National Historical Park will strengthen this legacy, becoming a model of National Park Service stewardship with a commitment to active partnerships, careful planning, solid resource management practices, and professional excellence across all fields and divisions. To realize this vision, Sitka National Historical Park will:

Use innovation, collaboration, and professionalism to monitor, protect, and maintain its natural and cultural resources and collections according to the highest possible professional standards;

Sustain the unique, living cultural connections with partners that keep the park meaningful and relevant in a changing world, including the Tlingit clans, the Russian Orthodox Church, and the Southeast Alaska Indian Cultural Center;

Serve the surrounding community, the public, our partners, and colleagues by acting as a resource and sharing our experience and expertise in preservation, education, interpretation;

Develop and offer education and interpretation programs that 1) serve all Americans, 2) encourage and adopt innovation in appropriate technologies, 3) reflect “best practices” in interpretation, including methods of evaluation that encourage continual improvement, and 4) encourage partnerships within and outside the community of Sitka;

Ensure the efficiency of our workforce by completing a business plan in 2008 that includes new performance goals to optimize our human resources and evaluate our effectiveness. New skills training in the areas of technology, partnership development, and cultural competence will ensure that the park's professionals are ready to serve the public.

By protecting and sharing the values that attracted people here even before its establishment in 1910 and creating a workforce that understands and reflects today's America, Sitka NHP will rise capably to the NPS Centennial celebration and continue to forge relevance and meaning between citizens and the park during its own second century.

Download the complete Centennial Strategy for Sitka National Historical Park.