Approved: /s/ Robert Stanton (original on file)
Director, National Park Service

Effective Date: June 11, 1998

Sunset Date: June 11, 2002

NPS-28, Cultural Resource Management Guideline (Release 4, 07-94) and other conflicting instructions are superseded and replaced by this Director’s Order. The NPS Management Policies states the basic principles governing the management of cultural resources and is supplemented by this Director’s Order.

1.1 The National Park Service, as steward of many of America's most important cultural resources, is charged to preserve them for the enjoyment of present and future generations. Management decisions and activities throughout the National Park System must reflect awareness of the irreplaceable nature of these resources.

2.1 This Director’s Order is issued pursuant to 16 U.S.C. (1 through 4). Numerous additional legal mandates including P.L. 59-209, P.L. 74-292, P.L. 89-665, P.L. 93-291, P.L 96-95, and P.L. 101-601, as well as regulations, further support the issuance of this Order.

3.1 The NPS will protect and manage cultural resources in its custody through effective research, planning, and stewardship and in accordance with the policies and principles contained in the NPS Management Policies.

3.2 The NPS will comply with the substantive and procedural requirements described in the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and Guidelines for Archeology and Historic Preservation. Additionally, the NPS will comply with the 1995 Servicewide Programmatic Agreement with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation and the National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers.

3.3 The Associate Director, Cultural Resource Stewardship and Partnerships will develop and issue by December 31, 1999, a cultural resource management handbook to further implement the NPS Management Policies. It will contain park management standards and other requirements, consistent with Federal law and regulation, with which park managers must comply in carrying out their responsibilities. The handbook will be a fundamental basis for managing cultural resources in the National Park System. It will be revised periodically with full consultation from other NPS program managers. In the time period between the issuance of this Director’s Order and the issuance of the handbook, Release No. 5 of the Cultural Resource Management Guideline (1997) will provide the necessary interim guidance.

3.4 The handbook referenced in 3.3 above will address standards and requirements for research, planning, and stewardship of cultural resources as well as the following key program activities:

* management of archeological resources

* management of cultural landscapes

* management of historic and prehistoric structures

* management of museum objects

* management of ethnographic resources