Attachment_8_Foundation_Document_WHMI.pdf

Foundation Document Whitman Mission National Historic Site Washington July 2017

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE • U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

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See Appendix C for a map of the Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla Homeland Heritage Corridor

Contents Mission of the National Park Service 1

Introduction 2

Part 1: Core Components 3

Brief Description of the Park 3 The Mission to the Weyíıletpuu 4

A Look to the Future 5

Park Purpose 6 Park Significance 7 Fundamental Resources and Values 8 Interpretive Themes 10

Part 2: Dynamic Components 11

Special Mandates and Administrative Commitments 11 Special Mandates 11

Administrative Commitments 11

Assessment of Planning and Data Needs 12 Analysis of Fundamental Resources and Values 12

Identification of Key Issues and Associated Planning and Data Needs 12

Planning and Data Needs 16

High Priority Planning Needs 16

High Priority Data Needs 19

Part 3: Contributors 22

Partners 22 NPS Pacific West Region 22 Other NPS Staff 22 Whitman Mission National Historic Site 22

Appendixes 23

Appendix A: Enabling Legislation and Legislative Acts for Whitman Mission National Historic Site 23

Appendix B: Inventory of Administrative Commitments 24 Appendix C: Map of Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla

Homeland Heritage Corridor 25

The arrowhead was authorized as the official National Park Service emblem by the Secretary of the Interior on July 20, 1951. The sequoia tree and bison represent vegetation and wildlife, the mountains and water represent scenic and recreational values, and the arrowhead represents historical and archeological values.

Whitman Mission National Historic Site

Mission of the National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) preserves unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the national park system for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations. The National Park Service cooperates with partners to extend the benefits of natural and cultural resource conservation and outdoor recreation throughout this country and the world.

The NPS core values are a framework in which the National Park Service accomplishes its mission. They express the manner in which, both individually and collectively, the National Park Service pursues its mission. The NPS core values are:

· Shared stewardship: We share a commitment to resource stewardship with the global preservation community.

· Excellence: We strive continually to learn and improve so that we may achieve the highest ideals of public service.

· Integrity: We deal honestly and fairly with the public and one another.

· Tradition: We are proud of it; we learn from it; we are not bound by it.

· Respect: We embrace each other’s differences so that we may enrich the well-being of everyone.

The National Park Service is a bureau within the Department of the Interior. While numerous national park system units were created prior to 1916, it was not until August 25, 1916, that President Woodrow Wilson signed the National Park Service Organic Act formally establishing the National Park Service.

The national park system continues to grow and comprises more than 400 park units covering more than 84 million acres in every state, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. These units include, but are not limited to, national parks, monuments, battlefields, military parks, historical parks, historic sites, lakeshores, seashores, recreation areas, scenic rivers and trails, and the White House. The variety and diversity of park units throughout the nation require a strong commitment to resource stewardship and management to ensure both the protection and enjoyment of these resources for future generations.

Introduction Every unit of the national park system will have a foundational document to provide basic guidance for planning and management decisions—a foundation for planning and management. The core components of a foundation document include a brief description of the park as well as the park’s purpose, significance, fundamental resources and values, and interpretive themes. The foundation document also includes special mandates and administrative commitments, an assessment of planning and data needs that identifies planning issues, planning products to be developed, and the associated studies and data required for park planning. Along with the core components, the assessment provides a focus for park planning activities and establishes a baseline from which planning documents are developed.

A primary benefit of developing a foundation document is the opportunity to integrate and coordinate all kinds and levels of planning from a single, shared understanding of what is most important about the park. The process of developing a foundation document begins with gathering and integrating information about the park. Next, this information is refined and focused to determine what the most important attributes of the park are. The process of preparing a foundation document aids park managers, staff, and the public in identifying and clearly stating in one document the essential information that is necessary for park management to consider when determining future planning efforts, outlining key planning issues, and protecting resources and values that are integral to park purpose and identity.

While not included in this document, a park atlas is also part of a foundation project. The atlas is a series of maps compiled from available geographic information system (GIS) data on natural and cultural resources, visitor use patterns, facilities, and other topics. It serves as a GIS-based support tool for planning and park operations. The atlas is published as a (hard copy) paper product and as geospatial data for use in a web mapping environment.

The park atlas for Whitman Mission National Historic Site can be accessed online at:

http://insideparkatlas.nps.gov/.

Part 1: Core Components The core components of a foundation document include a brief description of the park, park purpose, significance statements, fundamental resources and values, and interpretive themes.

Although park management is not fixed and responds to changing conditions, typically the core components of a foundation document change very little over time because they are based on a park unit’s enabling legislation. Core components are expected to be used in future planning and management efforts.

This foundation document for Whitman Mission National Historic Site is based on analysis of the park’s 1936 enabling legislation and rooted in the week-long meeting in October 2015 involving representatives of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) and National Park Service staff.

Brief Description of the Park Whitman Mission National Historic Site is west of the Blue Mountains in southeastern Washington, near the confluence of the Walla Walla River and Mill Creek. The site is known as Weyíiletpe, “place of waving, as grass waves,” to the land’s original stewards, the Weyíiletpuu (Cayuse) and Walúulapam (Walla Walla). It was the location of the 1836 American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) Christian mission established by Marcus and Narcissa Whitman.

The present 139-acre national park unit is approximately seven miles west of Walla Walla, in Walla Walla County. Park facilities are all within a complex biocultural landscape that includes a visitor center, paved or mown trails, picnic facilities, access roads and parking, archeological remains of mission buildings, 19th-century monument, grave and cemetery, and replica of the Oregon Trail.

The term “biocultural landscape” is of particular importance and relevance to this park unit in that it represents the integrated physical, biological, and human elements of the landscape that strengthen a people’s evolving relationship with the place, and maintain their unique set of customs, beliefs, language, and traditional knowledge. The natural elements of the landscape are essential to the cultural heritage.

The Mission to the Weyíıletpuu An 1833 article in a Methodist newspaper fueled the establishment of the mission. The article described a visit to St. Louis by four western Indians who were seeking a Christian education.

Though inaccurate, the report encouraged Christian missionaries to minister to native nations west of the Rockies. Among those missionaries were Marcus and Narcissa Whitman, who opened an ABCFM mission at Weyíiletpe, where a large population of Cayuse lived. Over time, the mission grew to include a large adobe house, gristmill, and blacksmith shop. Fellow missionary William Gray built a house nearby that would later become immigrant lodging.

Native interest in the Whitmans’ approach to worship, books, and school waxed and waned.

In 1842, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions considered closing the Weyíiletpe mission, due to a lack of converts. Marcus Whitman travelled east and successfully persuaded the organization to continue mission support. Whitman returned, leading one of the first major wagon trains into Oregon Country—known as the Great Migration of 1843— in which as many as 1,000 people traveled west from the United States. After 1844, most immigrants remained on the Oregon Trail to the south; the mission sheltered those arriving sick or destitute.

Increasing waves of immigrants convinced Weyíiletpuu leaders that their economy and sovereignty were threatened. The Weyíiletpuu had not been paid for use of the land or resources by the mission, as had been promised. An 1847 measles epidemic, coinciding with massive immigration, resulted in the death of half of the native population at Weyíiletpe.

Many Weyíiletpuu suspected that Marcus Whitman’s failure to heal these native patients was intentional, a means of acquiring their land.

On November 29, 1847, a group of Weyíiletpuu killed Marcus and Narcissa Whitman and 11 others. In response, a volunteer militia was formed in the Willamette Valley and initiated the Cayuse War. In 1851, five Weyíiletpuu were convicted of the murder of Marcus Whitman and hung. This conflict and ongoing unrest were the catalyst for the negotiation of treaties between the tribes and federal agents in Walla Walla in 1855 and the extension of the United States into the Pacific Northwest.

A Look to the Future Whitman Mission National Historic Site was established to preserve the site of the mission at Weyíiletpe and connect visitors to its history. The park and the events that took place here continue to resonate in the lives of descendants, who endeavor to share this history and its ongoing impacts with future generations.

The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and the National Park Service seek to learn from the site’s past, overcome the associated trauma, and find mutual understanding and respect. Conscious efforts to include multiple voices and perspectives, particularly those of tribal participants and descendants, will foster a more truthful, complex, and relevant portrayal of these early interactions between immigrants from the United States and local native nations. Through consultation with the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the National Park Service can access those with knowledge of the cultural context and tribal history connected to these events, allowing a more inclusive telling and deeper understanding. Both the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and the National Park Service recognize that there are other tribes, organizations, and communities whose voices are needed to present this complex history.

The increased awareness gained through shared exploration of the site’s history can promote the discovery of relevance in past events, cross-cultural understanding and respect, and a greater variety of approaches to land management. This increased cultural diversity can then inform park management and decision-making and further encourage collaborative park stewardship.

The foundation workshop in October 2015, with representation from both the National Park Service and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, is just one example of how collaboration on park stewardship can lead to a shared understanding. At this workshop, several tribal members expressed their thoughts:

“To me, the ‘memorial’ is that we are here. As native people. We are here, talking about restoration, reclaiming, remembrance. We are.”

“Our elders always spoke true and they are walking this land. Your ancestors are walking this land. And so we need to speak the truth.”

“The more we step outside history, the better. Balance, affirmation, sacred, healing—these are all words that relate to our present experience. Nonnative people can relate to these as well. If these were the topics we applied to Whitman Mission, it would be fascinating. It’s such a unique series of events that culminated here that you need innovative thinking and a new mindset.”

Park Purpose The purpose statement is tied to the reasons for the establishment of a particular park and lays the foundation for understanding what is most important about the park. Whitman National Monument was originally established when the enabling legislation adopted by Congress was signed into law on June 29, 1936. The park unit was renamed Whitman Mission National Historic Site on May 31, 1962 (see appendix A for enabling legislation and associated legislation). The purpose statement for this park unit is as follows:

At WhitmAn mission nAtionAl historic site, the National Park Service is entrusted with preserving a sacred piece of Weyíıletpuu homeland, interpreting the tragic events surrounding the early 19th-century Christian mission, memorializing those who died here, promoting a deeper understanding of the lasting impact of this history, and seeking to heal the associated trauma together with the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.

Park Significance Significance statements express why a park’s resources and values are important enough to merit designation as a unit of the national park system. These statements are linked to the purpose of Whitman Mission National Historic Site, and are supported by data, research, and consensus. Statements of significance describe the distinctive nature of the park and why an area is important within a global, national, regional, and systemwide context. They focus on the most important resources and values that will assist in park planning and management.

The following significance statements have been identified for Whitman Mission National Historic Site. (Please note that the sequence of the statements does not reflect the level of significance.)

· Sacred Site within a Sacred Landscape. The events associated with the Christian mission established by Marcus Whitman led to many deaths. Native and nonnative blood and last breaths were left here. This site provides an opportunity to begin healing from the associated historical trauma.

· A Pivotal Moment. Throughout its short history (1836–1847), the mission complex provided a site for early interactions between citizens of the United States and Indian nations. These interactions culminated from competing interests and ideologies and were the direct catalyst for U.S. colonization and establishment in the Pacific Northwest.

These events continue to influence attitudes and practices today.

· Differing Land Management Ideologies. The history of the mission at Weyíiletpe illustrates the ideological conflict between indigenous land management practices and the land use approaches of the Whitmans and offers insights on sustainable alternatives to stewardship that are increasingly crucial in the face of diminishing resources and global climate change.

· Social Justice. The mission’s history and violent aftermath provide a discrete narrative within the larger issues of global colonization and dispossession of indigenous nations, international conflicts arising from competition for resources or conflicting worldviews, and universal social justice.

Fundamental Resources and Values Fundamental resources and values (FRVs) are those features, systems, processes, experiences, stories, scenes, sounds, smells, or other attributes determined to warrant primary consideration during planning and management processes because they are essential to achieving the purpose of the park and maintaining its significance. Fundamental resources and values are closely related to a park’s legislative purpose and are more specific than significance statements.

Fundamental resources and values help focus planning and management efforts on what is truly significant about the park. One of the most important responsibilities of NPS managers is to ensure the conservation and public enjoyment of those qualities that are essential (fundamental) to achieving the purpose of the park and maintaining its significance. If fundamental resources and values are allowed to deteriorate, the park purpose and/or significance could be jeopardized.

The following fundamental resources and values for Whitman Mission National Historic Site are not mutually exclusive, but often intertwine.

· Tamáalwit. Tamáalwit might be compared to “covenants” in English—unwritten laws defining the relationships between humans and the world around them. It is the entirety of traditional native ecological knowledge and practice, and it governs human stewardship of the land. Tamáalwit shaped the landscape the Whitmans entered in 1836 and was at odds with the land use philosophy of the missionaries—itself a product of their Christian belief system. Ongoing partnership with individuals schooled in tamáalwit is fundamental to park management and continues to provide a strategy for sustainable stewardship native to this region.

· The Land. This land is hallowed, sacred, and revered. The 139 acres of Whitman Mission National Historic Site anchor the lives and history of the people intertwined with them. For as long as there have been humans here, they have drawn strength and power from the land. Upon death they have returned to it. Some peoples have left behind markers of their presence: a monument, gravestones, and archeological building remnants. Others have endeavored to leave nothing permanent behind. Likewise, other species that live on the land cannot be separated from it—they are one and the same.

· Ancestors. Those who lived, died, and are buried here are central to this site and their lives continue to resonate within the nation. Their presence is represented through teachings, possessions, monuments, and graves and experienced through feelings of spirit that impart a sense of sacredness. Others, buried elsewhere but forever connected to and changed by this place and these events, are no less central. Subsequent generations carry forth not only this history but also the importance of empathy and of understanding others.

· People Entwined with Place. This site’s human communities and biocultural landscape are a continuum that cannot be severed by time or place. Native people here during the mission’s active period live on through descendants who carry their names today. There is also an enduring connection between descendants of early immigrants and this site. Still other communities have connections with this place. These diverse connections with the site provide opportunities for personal and group identification with this park. Efforts to protect and preserve this place acknowledge existing communal connections.

· Titooqatímt (Native Languages) and Other Records. The mission’s history is preserved in both living language and written record. The associated native languages are the repository of local traditional knowledge respecting relations between peoples, perpetuating culture, and preserving direct connection to land. Native place names comprise a verbal map documenting a literal indigenous worldview. Similarly, the park’s museum collection of written accounts, graphic maps, and other permanent records reveal the worldview of the Whitmans and later immigrants.

· Inclusive History. The truth of this site’s history is not simple, easy, or comfortable.

Understanding and learning from this history requires bravery and dedication to the inclusion of multiple perspectives. The National Park Service provides a forum for the multiple voices sharing this history.

· Sovereignty, Treaty Rights, and Federal Trust Responsibility. The National Park Service recognizes the continued sovereignty, established treaty rights, and assets held in trust of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.

Interpretive Themes Interpretive themes are often described as the key stories or concepts that visitors should understand after visiting a park—they define the most important ideas or concepts communicated to visitors about a park unit. Themes are derived from, and should reflect, park purpose, significance, resources, and values. The set of interpretive themes is complete when it provides the structure necessary for park staff to develop opportunities for visitors to explore and relate to all park significance statements and fundamental resources and values.

Interpretive themes are an organizational tool that reveal and clarify meaning, concepts, contexts, and values represented by park resources. Sound themes are accurate and reflect current scholarship and science. They encourage exploration of the context in which events or natural processes occurred and the effects of those events and processes. Interpretive themes go beyond a mere description of the event or process to foster multiple opportunities to experience and consider the park and its resources. These themes help explain why a park story is relevant to people who may otherwise be unaware of connections they have to an event, time, or place associated with the park.

The following interpretive themes have been identified for Whitman Mission National Historic Site:

· The events surrounding the Whitmans’ mission—a mere moment in a long native history—were a catalyst for the expansion of the United States into the Pacific Northwest. These included the 1848 congressional establishment of the Oregon Territory in response to the Whitman killings, as well as the 1855 treaties in which tribes ceded land to the U.S. government. These changes came rapidly but with lasting impact. This history is part of larger global movements dispossessing indigenous peoples of their land.

· Cayuse and Walla Walla spirituality, tamáalwit, is rooted in stewardship of homeland in accordance with natural cycles. Abiding by tamáalwit, native peoples enjoyed stable cultural and political communities coupled with sustained economic success. Many elements of the Christianity introduced by the Whitmans were in conflict with these beliefs and threatened to destabilize tribal society. Deadly conflict resulted. Looking back upon these intercultural conflicts may yield peaceful resolution to similar conflicts today.

· The agrarian lifestyle promoted by the Whitmans was at odds with native land management practices, which focused on enhancing indigenous resources rather than cultivating imported crops and livestock. In the nearly two centuries since, agriculture and other development activities have altered the native grassland and riparian zones that once dominated the landscape.

· The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions formed in 1810 during a period of religious zeal in the United States. In addition to sponsoring the mission to the Weyíıletpuu, the group sent missionaries to other American Indians and abroad and profoundly influenced U.S. policies toward native peoples.

· One-sided representations that portray the Whitmans as martyrs and depict a native “massacre” of non-Indians have further marginalized the associated native peoples.

Addressing the mission’s complex historical context—including the complicated legacy of Manifest Destiny and its continued impacts on native populations—will promote healing and understanding.

Part 2: Dynamic Components The dynamic components of a foundation document include special mandates and administrative commitments and an assessment of planning and data needs. These components are dynamic because they will change over time. New special mandates can be established and new administrative commitments made. As conditions and trends of fundamental resources and values change over time, the analysis of planning and data needs will need to be revisited and revised, along with key issues. Therefore, this part of the foundation document will be updated accordingly.

Special Mandates and Administrative Commitments Many management decisions for a park unit are directed or influenced by special mandates and administrative commitments with other federal agencies, state and local governments, utility companies, partnering organizations, and other entities. Special mandates are requirements specific to a park that must be fulfilled. Mandates can be expressed in enabling legislation, in separate legislation following the establishment of the park, or through a judicial process.

They may expand on park purpose or introduce elements unrelated to the purpose of the park. Administrative commitments are, in general, agreements that have been reached through formal, documented processes, often through memorandums of agreement. Examples include easements, rights-of-way, arrangements for emergency service responses, etc. Special mandates and administrative commitments can support, in many cases, a network of partnerships that help fulfill the objectives of the park and facilitate working relationships with other organizations. They are an essential component of managing and planning for Whitman Mission National Historic Site.

Special Mandates

· Treaty of June 9, 1855, between the United States and the Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla

Walla Tribes, ratified by the United States Senate on March 8, 1859. As a federal agency, the National Park Service has responsibility to recognize and protect the continued sovereignty, treaty rights, and trust assets of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Similarly, other treaties between the United States and federally recognized tribes or executive orders pertaining to tribes with historic, cultural, or religious associations with the site and its history have similar influence on park mission and operation.

Administrative Commitments For more information about specific administrative commitments for Whitman Mission National Historic Site, please see appendix B.

Assessment of Planning and Data Needs Once the core components of part 1 of the foundation document have been identified, it is important to gather and evaluate existing information about the park’s fundamental resources and values, and develop a full assessment of the park’s planning and data needs. The assessment of planning and data needs section presents planning issues, the planning projects that will address these issues, and the associated information requirements for planning, such as resource inventories and data collection, including GIS data.

There are three sections in the assessment of planning and data needs:

1. analysis of fundamental resources and values

2. identification of key issues and associated planning and data needs

3. identification of planning and data needs (including spatial mapping activities or GIS maps)

The analysis of fundamental resources and values and identification of key issues leads up to and supports the identification of planning and data collection needs.

Analysis of Fundamental Resources and Values The current conditions, potential threats and opportunities, and planning and data needs of fundamental resources and values were considered collectively and holistically in concert with the identified key park issues (see key issues described below in next section). Having identified the park’s fundamental resources and values, NPS staff and partners will continue these discussions to better understand the current status of those resources and values. Therefore, no fundamental resource and value analysis tables are included in the document.

Identification of Key Issues and Associated Planning and Data Needs This section considers key issues to be addressed in planning and management and therefore takes a broader view over the primary focus of part 1. A key issue focuses on a question that is important for a park. Key issues often raise questions regarding park purpose and significance and fundamental resources and values. For example, a key issue may pertain to the potential for a fundamental resource or value in a park to be detrimentally affected by discretionary management decisions. A key issue may also address crucial questions that are not directly related to purpose and significance, but which still affect them indirectly. Usually, a key issue is one that a future planning effort or data collection needs to address and requires a decision by NPS managers.

The following are key issues for Whitman Mission National Historic Site and the associated planning and data needs to address them:

· Telling a Complex Story. NPS interpretation and management have changed little since the park’s establishment in 1936, reflecting enabling legislation that is focused solely on the Whitmans and the period of the mission’s existence (1836–47).

The National Park Service, tribal partners, and some members of the public have expressed concern that the enabling legislation is itself exclusionary, that it marginalizes native peoples, and that its language is offensive. This one-sided portrayal of the site’s purpose and significance ignores the associated native history and the thousands of years they lived peacefully in their homeland, as well as the histories of other affiliated people of color. Existing interpretive infrastructure and landscape features continue to reinforce the depiction of the Whitmans as heroic pioneers and martyrs in a native “massacre,” without conveying the full complexity of the 1847 killings and their place in the larger context of the colonization of the Pacific Northwest. This historicized perspective was a product of its time. The National Park Service recognizes the need to incorporate current perspectives on this complex story and encourage thoughtful discussion and exploration of the cultural significance of the site.

- Associated Planning Needs: Interim interpretation strategy, long-range interpretive plan, zoning plan, native plant revegetation plan, development concept plan, partnership strategy, resource stewardship strategy

- Associated Data Needs: Oral history collection, ethnographic overview and assessment, traditional cultural properties determination

· Planning for Diversity and Relevance. The history of Whitman Mission means many different things to different people. Park interpretation is moving away from an exclusive storyline and toward greater complexity through incorporating additional and varied perspectives. This shift could offer increasing opportunities for new and established visitors and community members to consider the site’s current relevance to their lives and understand how it has been interpreted in the past.

To support greater inclusion, the park needs to continue building staff knowledge and understanding of the complex history of the site and the cultural connections to this site that persist today. The population of the surrounding region is growing and diversifying, providing opportunities for the National Park Service to connect with potential new visitors and supporters, and park staff need to improve community outreach to match changing demographics.

The park also serves as an important community amenity by providing space for outdoor recreation. It is likely that the demographic composition of visitors will shift to reflect trends in the larger regional and national population. Visitors come from increasingly diverse backgrounds and age groups and have different expectations for their visit that may not be supported by existing facilities. To adequately plan for these potential new audiences, the National Park Service needs more information about unmet needs and desires of newer and anticipated future visitors in order to ensure inclusion and relevance to an increasingly diverse visitor base.

It is also clear that many members of the local community are not aware of the site’s history and significance. Visitor activities such as picnicking and wedding photography currently occur in sensitive areas. The National Park Service, along with the community and partners, needs to create a larger awareness of the site and its resources to address potential visitor use conflicts arising from current or anticipated future uses.

- Associated Planning Needs: Interim interpretation strategy, long-range interpretive plan, zoning plan, development concept plan

- Associated Data Needs: Oral history collection, visitor use and regional demographics study

· Taking Care of the Ancestors. The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and National Park Service share a responsibility to acknowledge, remember, protect, and share the stories of all those ancestors and generations associated through time with the site, from all sides of the conflict. Additional information and tools will be needed and developed to fulfill this obligation.

Repatriating human remains and associated funerary objects is a high priority for the tribal partners and the National Park Service. Safeguarding the ancestors buried at Whitman Mission is an additional ongoing challenge. Research regarding the burial location and current condition of the graves of the five Weyíiletpuu hung in Oregon City for the killing of Marcus Whitman is a priority. Locating these graves remains a priority for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, and the National Park Service recognizes and is dedicated to supporting this endeavor.

Recreational use near cemetery and gravesites—both marked and unmarked—is not presently restricted, and many visitors use these spaces without understanding the site’s painful history and significance or being provided an opportunity for a more appropriate and reflective experience.

Zoning guidance from the unit’s 2000 general management plan does not distinguish culturally sensitive areas with different management prescriptions. To protect these sacred areas, staff need geospatial information and associated data about biocultural resources, cultural landscapes, traditional cultural properties, and archeological sites that can be used to define zones with differing levels of visitor use. Cultural resource documentation is available to support revised management zoning—for example archeological surveys and GIS data—but it will need to be synthesized, and its analysis may reveal additional research needs.

- Associated Planning Needs: Zoning plan

- Associated Data Needs: Archeological overview and assessment, oral history collection, ethnographic overview and assessment, traditional cultural properties determination, historic resource study—graves of the Cayuse Five

· Cultural Competency and Realignment—Health, Safety, and Wellness. The historical trauma and ecological disturbance associated with the site present challenges to reestablishing a sense of healing, safety, and wellness onsite. Tribal members and others understand and interpret events in the aftermath of the 1847 killings in very different ways, including vilification and admiration of participants.

The development of mutual respect and understanding invites everybody to find common ground and acknowledge the harm and the hurt on all sides. Without resolution of this, some find that the park is a spiritually unsafe place. Developing respectful, collaborative, and integrated approaches to biocultural restoration may promote further awareness and healing.

- Associated Planning Needs: Native plant revegetation plan, water resources management plan, resource stewardship strategy

· Cultural Landscape Management and Changing Ecological Conditions. The mission’s landscape has changed dramatically over the past 200 years and continues to evolve in response to shifting hydrological and weather conditions. The introduction of grazing, agriculture, and irrigation to the site in the 19th century disrupted original plant communities and riparian systems and altered acoustic conditions. Around the mission site and visitor center, the NPS addition of mown lawns, ornamental trees, and other cultivated landscape features continues to impact the historic plant cover and water patterns. In addition, the cultural landscape and ecology are somewhat disrupted by noise and artificial light. Managers are interested in reintroducing native plants that are drought-tolerant; however, guidance is needed to determine where and how this should be achieved and how this would impact the cultural landscape. For example, the footprints of the historic mission buildings are delineated and currently visible in the mission grounds because they are surrounded by managed turfgrass.

Trails and visitor circulation infrastructure from the Mission 66 era persist and need to be considered in management and treatment decisions. The introduction of alternative vegetation to this area would need to be considered carefully.

Historic interpretive displays, such as the Mission 66-era millpond and irrigation system, are threatened by diminishing water resources at the site and are likely to dry up completely in the near future unless additional protective measures are taken. If the millpond dries out, for instance, it will no longer be able to hold water without the addition of a liner. Faced with these substantial environmental changes and consequences, managers seek further treatment guidance to protect the long-term health and sustainability of the cultural landscape. In addition, guidance regarding the existence and nature of water rights for both consumptive and nonconsumptive uses will be necessary.

- Associated Planning Needs: Zoning plan, native plant revegetation plan, water resources management plan, development concept plan, resource stewardship strategy

- Associated Data Needs: Cultural landscape inventory, climate change vulnerability assessment

Planning and Data Needs To maintain connection to the core elements of the foundation and the importance of these core foundation elements, the planning and data needs listed here are directly related to protecting fundamental resources and values, park significance, and park purpose, as well as addressing key issues. To successfully undertake a planning effort, information from tribal partners and sources such as inventories, studies, research activities, and analyses may be required to provide adequate knowledge of park resources and visitor information. Such information sources have been identified as data needs. Geospatial mapping tasks and products are included in data needs.

Items considered of the utmost importance were identified as high priority, and other items identified, but not rising to the level of high priority, were listed as either medium- or low-priority needs. These priorities inform park management efforts to secure funding and support for planning projects.

Criteria and Considerations for Prioritization. The following criteria were used to evaluate the priority of each planning or data need:

· Greatest utility to unit management.

· Ability to address multiple issues; many issues are interrelated. For example, many visitor capacity issues are interrelated with resource protection issues.

· Emergency/urgency of the issue.

· Prevention of resource degradation.

· Plans that consider protection of the fundamental resources and values.

· Result in a significant benefit for visitors.

· Feasibility of completing the plan or study, including staffing support and funding availability.

· Opportunities, including interagency partnership or assistance.

High Priority Planning Needs Interim Interpretation Strategy.

Rationale — Most of the unit’s interpretive waysides and exhibits were developed in 1978 and do not adequately convey the history of the site. NPS interpreters need guidance in the short term (one to three years) to reconcile the site’s new interpretive direction of telling an inclusive story with conflicting materials and infrastructure that will not be immediately replaced.

An interim strategy for interpretation would identify changes that can be made quickly and would outline an approach for implementing these more agile measures. In addition, the strategy would offer guidance for communicating this significant transition to the public. This would provide a meaningful opportunity to inform visitors about past interpretation while illustrating the complexity and ongoing relevance of the events that took place in 1847.

Scope — This planning effort would precede the long-range interpretive plan and would be developed in collaboration with tribal partners. The strategy would include recommendations for revising curriculum and other educational materials, replacing outdated audio recordings on waysides, and incorporating temporary panels into existing exhibit space. The National Park Service could also use recent digital technology to nimbly incorporate new content—this could include the use of mobile apps and digital devices for audio tours. Primary talking points would be developed with tribal assistance.

Long-Range Interpretive Plan.

Rationale — The existing long-range interpretive plan for Whitman Mission was completed in 2006 and does not reflect current understanding of the unit’s purpose, significance, fundamental resources and values, and interpretive themes.

A long-range interpretive plan is needed to guide future interpretation, education, and visitor experience at the national historic site. The majority of the park’s interpretive media and facilities are 30 to 40 years old and do not meet legal standards for exhibit accessibility or include multiple languages. This plan would provide direction for removal and replacement of outdated features (for example wayside and museum exhibits), while identifying strategies to improve accessibility and incorporate digital technology.

Scope — The interpretive planning process would include tribal partners, NPS staff, and other subject matter experts, specialists, and stakeholders. The long-range interpretive plan would define goals for interpreting the Whitman Mission story in the 21st century and provide guidance on media and exhibits that reach beyond the historicized and incomplete narrative presented by the site’s enabling legislation. The plan would provide direction for both personal (programs, personal contacts) and nonpersonal (interpretive media, exhibits) services and would provide specific guidance for the development of exhibits and waysides. Input would be needed from a variety of individuals such as interpreters, collection managers and curators, archivists, and other technical experts to ensure that the site’s full history is reflected in the document. In collaboration with tribal partners, the long-range interpretive plan would establish a process for incorporating native language consistently and sensitively throughout unit materials. In addition, the plan would define accessibility standards for new media and facilities, including, but not limited to multisensory and multilingual content, assistive technology, and compliant circulation, lighting, furniture, and exhibit design.

Zoning Plan.

Rationale — Whitman Mission National Historic Site is sacred; however, different areas may need to be managed differently. Taking care of the ancestors is the first priority, but picnicking and other conflicting recreational activities currently occur near graves or other sacred sites. Some historic resources are subject to degradation, such as trail erosion, due to incompatible social uses. Managers need a zoning plan to spatially define which types of activities are appropriate in which areas. With tribal input, the plan would identify locations for interpretive and recreational use as well as sensitive areas in which such uses would be restricted. The zoning plan would support all subsequent planning and management at the site.

Scope — The plan could include a digital atlas that could be updated over time as new information becomes available. Existing GIS data could be supplemented with aerial photography and LIDAR. This information would be augmented by any publicly accessible portions of the archeological overview and assessment and the cultural landscape inventory, which have been identified as high- and medium-priority data needs, respectively. The digital atlas would be a dynamic online tool maintained by the National Park Service; the zoning plan could include provisions for administrative updates to reflect new data. Sensitive data and metadata would be limited in availability to the public.

Native Plant Revegetation Plan.

Rationale — The site’s original plant communities have been significantly disturbed since the mission’s establishment in 1836. Decades of livestock grazing, agriculture, and other development activities have altered the native grassland and riparian woodland that once dominated the landscape. The site has been engaged in substantial revegetation efforts over the past 30 years to reduce managed turf, noxious weeds, and other introduced species, but a plan is needed to guide the next phases of this process.

This plan would identify alternatives that address cultural, ecological, maintenance, and sustainability concerns.

Scope — A revegetation plan would identify the work has that been achieved to date, describe the desired ecological and cultural conditions for each area of the landscape, and provide strategies to reach these goals. Informed by the unit’s cultural landscape report and closely connected to the zoning plan, this effort would be undertaken in collaboration with tribal partners, such as the CTUIR Department of Natural Resources. With data synthesized from earlier reports and recommendations, including the 2012 vegetation inventory, the plan would identify and prioritize appropriate areas to receive specific treatments. The site’s changing surface and groundwater resources would be considered along with potential climate change impacts. In addition, the plan would identify opportunities to integrate traditional ecological knowledge and educational and interpretive programming with planting efforts.

Water Resources Management Plan.

Rationale — The unit’s surface water resources include Doan Creek and reconstructions of the millpond and irrigation channels installed by Marcus Whitman in the 1830s. The original hydrology of the site has changed substantially over time due to diversion for agricultural use and increasing upstream development. Reduced water quantities are adversely impacting both natural and cultural resources. A water resources management plan is needed to help the park further identify and prioritize resource protection needs in the face of declining water availability.

Within the context of the site’s changing hydrology, the plan would address two particularly time-sensitive issues: the continued use of the millpond for water storage and the reduction of water flow in Doan Creek. It has been increasingly difficult to retain sufficient water in the millpond to prevent the cultural landscape feature from drying out. Managers need to evaluate whether millpond water retention will be feasible and desirable both imminently and in the long term, and if so, what actions will be required to ensure that the historic irrigation feature will continue to hold water.

Doan Creek enters the unit from the northeast and was diverted shortly after the Whitmans’ arrival. Two downstream irrigation users hold rights to water in the creek.

In recent years, Doan Creek has had diminishing water flows and has become a high-profile regional watershed issue, attracting interest from local groups concerned about water temperature changes in adjacent rivers, aquifer levels, and impacts on anadromous fisheries.

Scope — A water resources management plan would analyze alternatives that would best allow downstream users to continue to receive irrigation water, while protecting cultural landscape features and ecosystems, as well as existing water rights. This planning effort would consider the unit’s water resources holistically and within a changing environmental context. Recommendations associated with the millpond and irrigation channel would be informed by the cultural landscape report (currently underway). The water resources management plan would be prepared according to National Environmental Policy Act requirements and would include an analysis of groundwater resources and historical changes in site surface hydrology. In addition, an assessment of water rights within the watershed would be needed to understand the park’s capabilities in meeting its consumptive and nonconsumptive water uses.

High Priority Data Needs Archeological Overview and Assessment.

Rationale — Archeological surveys have been conducted in most areas of the unit, but existing data are scattered between several repositories and have not been synthesized.

In order to determine potential gaps in archeological data, existing information must be reviewed, summarized, and evaluated.