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public programs in a setting where such skills are misunderstood or undervalued.”53 While we understand that revising OPM standards is a challenging task, agency-specific standards are indeed permissible, and revising qualifications for the historian and ranger series is something NPS should pursue to ensure that history work in the agency is carried out according to pertinent professional standards. Revising the position qualifications for the 0170 series, however, will not address the agency’s dearth of expertise as long as so few historians are hired and the limited number of historians the agency has are so poorly distributed across the parks. NPS data provided to us show that the agency’s 182 current 0170 historians are heavily concentrated at WASO (25%) and the regional offices (32%). Meanwhile, while the national battlefields, national battlefield parks, and national military parks are fairly well staffed with historians, only about a third of national historical parks and a mere 13% of national historic sites are staffed with 0170 historians. Percentages of the rest of the park types that have historians on staff are abysmally low. While we do not have FIGURES 3 & 4 figures on how many employees in other series (especially 025) have advanced training in history, these statistics do suggest that there are simply not enough historians widely distributed FIGURES 3 & 4 Where are the historians? across the service to carry out historical work at a professional level. Where are the historians? Of the 182 Series 0170 employees in the NPS1:
Where are the historians? Of the 182 Series 0170 employees in the NPS1: Unit Designation
O f th e 182 S e ri es 0 17 0 e m p l oy e e s i n t h e NP S
W h at p e r c e n ta g e o f NP S u n i t s h av e S e r i e s 0 17 0 e m p l oy e e s ?
53 Rose, personal narrative.
Number of Historians Number of 7 Historians 3 7 10 3 1 10 18 1 1 18 9 1 4 9 11 4 3 11 2 3 7 2 1 7 59 1 1 59 45 1 45
Percentage
Unit Designation Percentage National Battlefield 4% National Battlefield Park 2% National Battlefield 4% National Historic Site 5% National Battlefield Park 2% National Historic Trail 1% National Historic Site 5% National Historical Park 10% National Historic Trail 1% National Memorial 1% National Historical Park 10% National Military Park 5% National Memorial 1% National Monument 2% National Military Park 5% National Park 6% National Monument 2% National Recreation Area 2% National Park 6% National Seashore 1% National Recreation Area 2% Other 4% National Seashore 1% Parkway 1% Other 4% Regional Offices (NERO, SERO, &c) 32% Parkway 1% Scenic Riverway 1% Regional Offices (NERO, SERO, &c) 32% WASO 25% Scenic Riverway 1% WASO 25% What percentage of NPS units have Series 0170 employees? What percentage of NPS units have Series 0170 employees? Unit Designation Number of sites Percentage with Historians Unit Designation Number of sites Percentage National Battlefield (11 in NPS) 5 45% with Historians National Battlefield Park (3 in NPS) 3 100% National Battlefield (11 in NPS) 5 45% National Historic Site (77 in NPS) 10 13% National Battlefield Park (3 in NPS) 3 100% National Historical Park (45 in NPS) 15 33% National Historic Site (77 in NPS) 10 13% National Memorial (28 in NPS) 1 4% National Historical Park (45 in NPS) 15 33% National Military Park (9 in NPS) 4 44% National Memorial (28 in NPS) 1 4 4% National Monument (74 in NPS) 5% National Military Park (9 in NPS) 4 44% National Park (58 in NPS) 11 19% National Monument (74 in NPS) 4 1 5% National Recreation Area (18 in NPS) 6% National Park (58 in NPS) 11 19% National Seashore (10 in NPS) 2 20% National Recreation Area (18 in NPS) 1 6% Other (68 in NPS, see below) 6 9% National Seashore (10 in NPS) 2 20% Parkway (4 in NPS) 1 25% Other (68 in NPS, see below) 6 9% Scenic Riverway (10 in NPS) 1 10% Parkway (4 in NPS) 1 25% Scenic Riverway (10 in NPS) 1 10% As well as those units the NPS classifies as "other," the category here includes all unnamed categories (lakeshores, preserves, affiliated areas, etc.) As well as those units the NPS classifies as "other," the category here includes WASO and the Regional Offices are not reflected in this table all unnamed categories (lakeshores, preserves, affiliated areas, etc.) WASO and the Regional Offices are not reflected in this table 1
National Park System, “Units,” updated February 1, 2010 (http://www.nps.gov/pub_aff/refdesk/classlst.pdf) was
used to develop these tables. 1
National Park System, “Units,” updated February 1, 2010 (http://www.nps.gov/pub_aff/refdesk/classlst.pdf) was