Special Designations

Other Designations

The following special designations affect only a few NPS areas. Some are more fully discussed in another section of this Reference Manual.

National Marine Sanctuaries 

These sites can occur in coastal and ocean waters, the Great Lakes and their connecting waters, and submerged lands over which the United States exercises jurisdiction. These areas are designated by the Secretary of Commerce  due to their significance for conservation, recreation, or ecological, historical, research, educational, or aesthetic qualities. Designation occurs after a 30-month process including development of an EIS, a management plan, a prospectus for Congress, and site regulations. After designation, Congress has a 45-day period in which to concur or reject.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration administers these areas alone or cooperatively with other agencies. The NPS assists with interpretation and law enforcement in some National Marine Sanctuaries adjacent to NPS areas. Sanctuary boundaries usually, though not always, extend to the high-tide line of land areas and may overlap NPS boundaries.

RAMSAR Sites 

These sites result from the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat. The Convention providing for listing of these sites was concluded at Ramsar, Iran, February 2, l971. The United States became a full party to the Convention on April 18, l987. One aspect of the Convention is its requirement that parties identify wetlands of international importance and list them under the auspices of the Convention. The listing serves to highlight the values of these sites but affects neither the management regime for these areas nor resource use within them. Contracting parties to the Convention are to formulate and implement their planning so as to promote the conservation of the wetlands included in the list. The Convention specifies the criteria for inclusion in the list. Everglades National Park was among the first six sites accepted as a RAMSAR site. Delisting by the Conference of Parties is possible if ecological or hydrological characteristics of a site deteriorate because of human interference.

Class I and Class II Areas, Clean Air Act 

In this Reference Manual, see Air Resources Management

Critical Habitat 

In this Reference Manual, see Endangered, Threatened, and Rare Species Management. See also NPS Management Policies, 4.4.2.3.