The Sustainable Practices and Opportunities Plan (SPOP) is a project of the Pacific West Region of the U.S. National Park Service.  SPOP evaluations include all aspects of a park unit such as operations, maintenance, concession and visitor services, law enforcement, resource protection, employee and visitor facilities, procurement, waste handling, and energy usage. Once park activities and operational practices along with resource-based parameters are understood, SPOP identifies ways to improve the health of the park's fiscal condition by strengthening its environmental balance sheet. This is accomplished by recommending "Best Management Practices" or BMPs which will reduce environmental effects and costs. The goal is not  to find fault with existing facilities or operations, but to explore ways the parks can incorporate sustainable practices into their daily activities.

History of Sustainable Practices in the National Park Service

Since the late 1980's with the publishing of the Bruntland report, sustainable development or sustainability has been a popular idea in our society. NPS is recoginizing that through adopting the concept of sustainability, the National Park Service can more effectively accomplish its conservation ethic and 1916 Organic Act mission:

"...which purpose is to conserve the scenery and natural and historic objects and the wildlife therein, and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations."

The Guiding Principles of Sustainable Design, published in October 1993, was the first attempt at definining sustainable practices relative to park operations. It was a collaborative effort intended to provide a basis for achieving sustainability in facility planning and design, emphasize the importance of biodiversity, and encourage responsible development decisions in parks and other conservation areas, particularly where related to ecotourism. Integrating sustainable practices in all park operations provides tremendous opportunities for affecting visitor perceptions of the natural and cultural world, and developing conservation-oriented values.

The suggested principles identified in this book emphasized environmental sensitivity in planning, design, construction, operation and maintenance; the use of non-toxic materials, resource conservation and recycling; the integration of visitors with natural and cultural settings; and to affect not only immediate behaviors but also the long-term beliefs and attitudes of visitors.

Sustainable design criteria are being applied to new facilities, integrating sustainable materials and systems to a maximum extent. Environmentally favorable practices are being integrated into planning and design for the rehab of existing facilities.

Since this beginning, the idea of sustainability has broadened to include all park operations, not just building materials or maintenance of facilities. Parks are undertaking a wide variety of pollution prevention, waste reduction, alternate fuel and recycling projects. The National Park Service is reaching out to private partners like Lever Brothers to fund recycling efforts and public partners such as EPA and DOE to help offset the additional costs of using alternative fuel vehicles and providing electrical power through the use of wind and solar power.

In 1997 SPOP, or Sustainable Practices and Opportunity Planning was begun in the Pacific West Region of the National Park Service. Using two parks as examples, SPOP builds on previous successes in sustainability through an assessment of sustainable practices in day-to-day park operations.

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