SOP #18: Sensitive Information Procedures. Version 1.01. Pacific Island Network Established Invasive Plant Species Monitoring Protocol. Unpublished National Park Service Report, Pacific Island Inventory and Monitoring Network, Hawaii National Park, Hawaii.
Kozar K and Weisenborn K. 2021. SOP #18: Sensitive Information Procedures. Version 1.01. Pacific Island Network Established Invasive Plant Species Monitoring Protocol. Unpublished National Park Service Report, Pacific Island Inventory and Monitoring Network, Hawaii National Park, Hawaii.
This SOP describes the procedures for dealing with sensitive data for the Pacific Island Network (PACN) Established Invasive Plant Species (EIPS) Monitoring Protocol. Although it is the general NPS policy to share information widely, the NPS also realizes that providing information about the location of park resources may sometimes place those resources at risk of harm, theft, or destruction. This can occur, for example, with regard to caves, archeological sites, tribal information, and rare plant and animal species. Therefore, information will be withheld when the NPS foresees that disclosure would be harmful to an interest protected by an exemption under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The National Parks Omnibus Management Act, Section 207, 16 U.S.C. 5937, is interpreted to prohibit the release of information regarding the “nature or specific location” of certain cultural and natural resources in the national park system. Additional details and information about the legal basis for this policy can be found in the NPS Management Policies (NPS 2006), and in Director’s Order 66 (NPS 2005), which includes the DOJ Guidelines to the Freedom of Information Act.