Natural Resources Budget Formulation

Roles and Responsibilities

The Director of the National Park Service, with the National Leadership Council, provides direction and priorities for NPS budgets, based on guidance received from the Department and the Administration.

The Associate Director, Natural Resource Stewardship and Science, reviews regional and park natural resource submissions to determine those high priority needs that, in combination, can be used to support development of servicewide natural resource budgetary initiatives that respond to stated NPS, Departmental, or Presidential budget formulation priorities. The associate assigns priorities to budget proposals for improving the capabilities of programs under his/her responsibility. The ADNRSS represents all of the identified NPS natural resource budgetary needs in discussions and written communications with the Department, OMB, and Congress, and provides liaisons between these offices and natural resources.

Natural Resource Stewardship and Science divisions/offices exercise the Associate's responsibility by developing budget proposals for improving the capabilities of programs under their responsibility.

The regional director, through or with the assistance of an assistant or associate regional director, reviews the park proposals to ensure that they are well justified and that cost estimates are accurately prepared. If time permits, the regional director assists parks in revising less well developed or justified proposals. The regional director develops a regional strategy for meeting priority park base needs for natural resource management that can be used to determine priorities for park base increases and for regional or cluster-level project funding. The regional director selects projects for servicewide funding. Where such projects will be competing for funding, the region will assist parks as necessary to revise project statements and proposals to meet the specific requirements of each funding sources and to articulate the need and solution is well as possible. The regional director represents the identified park and consolidated regional needs in discussions and written communications with the Director and, as may be appropriate, the Department, OMB, and Congress.

Support office and regional office natural resource staff and/or cluster or regional natural resource program coordinators have responsibility for assisting parks in needs identification and justification.

The superintendent is responsible for understanding park natural resources and their condition. The superintendent is responsible for establishing, managing, and supporting park natural resource programs and ensuring that they comply with directives, policies, and laws. The superintendent integrates the identified natural resource increase needs into the park's total list of needs, as reflected in the park's PMIS and OFS submissions, and determines priorities. The superintendent submits a parkwide list of needs for funding to the regional office in accordance with the regional office's instructions.

The park natural resource manager, based on resource planning, develops statements of need that are grounded in factual descriptions of those park natural resource deficiencies that are caused by lack of adequate personnel or dollar resources. The park natural resource manager (1) develops workable proposals for resolving each of the deficiencies; (2) prepares documented estimates of the level of increase of base funds and personnel or project funds that are required to achieve each of the proposed actions; and (3) ensures that these increase are reflected in updated resource planning documents, as well as OFS and PMIS. Park natural resource personnel must be familiar with how the park submits and prioritizes PMIS and OFS submissions.

Natural Resources Budget Formulation Table of Contents | RM#77 Table of Contents