Recent Publications

National Park Service Publications & Studies

NPS Inventory Guidance Documents for Cultural Landscapes and Historic Structures (January 2025)

The National Park Service announced the publication of the Cultural Landscapes Inventory Professional Procedures Guide (CLI PPG) and the Historic Structures Inventory Professional Procedures Guide (HSI PPG).

These two reference manuals will guide NPS staff and contractors through the process of conducting inventories and creating records in the Cultural Resouces Inventory System (CRIS) for cultural landscapes and historic structures. The guidance streamlines and standardizes procedures for the Cultural Landscapes Inventory (CLI) and the Historic Structures Inventory (HSI) and incorporates best practices for cultural resources management, consistent with law and policy.

The guides were produced by the NPS Cultural Resources, Parternships, and Science (CRPS) Office of Structures, Cultures, and Landscapes with the support of many contributors. The CLI PPG replaces the 2009 version to align with the Cultural Resources Inventory System (CRIS). The HSI PPG is the first servicewide guidance for conducting historic structures inventories.

Preparing inventories of all potential cultural landscapes and historic structures with NPS legal interest is an effort that began with the List of Classified Structures after passage of the 1966 National Historic Preservation Act. With decades of sustained effort, the inventories now encompass more than 1,000 cultural landscapes and more than 26,000 historic structures servicewide. These inventories inform park management, including facilities and resources management, interpretation and education, and resource protection. The new PPGs will help the NPS to achieve greater consistency, accuracy, and efficiency in our inventory efforts.

• Historic Structures Inventory Professional Procedures Guide
• Cultural Landscapes Inventory Professional Procedures Guide

Mount Rainier National Park Announces New Publication (July 2024)

Plants, Tribal Traditions, and the Mountain Practices and Effects of Nisqually Tribal Plant Gathering at Mount Rainier National Park
by Greg Burtchard, David Hooper, and Arnie Peterson

This book provides ethnographic and historical background to the Indigenous use of Takhóma (Mount Rainier) and the surrounding landscape, a history of plant gathering practices following the founding of Mount Rainier National Park, plant gathering research and practices with a focus on several specific species, and considerations for balancing the continuation of traditional plant-gathering practices with sustainability.

• Find out more on the Associated Tribes of Mount Rainer.