The National Park Service (NPS) in the United States is a Bureau of the Department of the Interior with its headquarters located in Washington, D.C. The bureaus consist of numerous support offices and seven regional offices, which oversee park operations within their geographic area. The NPS has 3 main offices/verticals that support the Office of the Director: The Office of Congressional & External Relations, The Office of Management & Administration, and Operations.[1]
The National Park Service changed its organizational structure in 1995 in response to the changes that had confronted it over the previous decades. The various causes of this change were the National Performance Review, and a legally mandated staffing reduction. The resultant Restructuring Plan for the National Park Service built on earlier efforts within the Service – the 21st Century Task Force Report, the VAIL AGENDA, the NPS STRATEGIC PLAN, and the Recommendations of the Reorganization Work Group.
The plan reduced the number of central offices and by the creation of 16 ecological-cultural-geographical based clusters in seven regions. The first steps were taken in 1995 to begin the change. By 2000, the restructuring plan had been revised four times leaving seven regions, which were substantially smaller than before. Of the 16 ‘eco-clusters’ envisioned in the plan, only those clusters based on older regional offices, i.e., Boston, Seattle, and Santa Fe exist.[2] (See Director Kennedy)