National Park Service National Cemetery Standards
Wagner G, Sabol S, Dolan S. 2025. National Park Service National Cemetery Standards. National Park Service
These standards reflect the ideal operational practices for the management and care of the national cemeteries administered by the National Park Service (NPS). The NPS manages 14 national cemeteries. They are administered as suitable and dignified burial grounds, as well as nationally significant cultural resources. This document presents a comprehensive set of operational standards and priorities to ensure their continued care, respect, and preservation. NPS partners with the National Cemetery Administration (NCA) and US Department of the Army (DA) in sharing technical guidance and staff training opportunities. At the date of publication, the NPS National Cemetery Standards are aspirational rather than prescriptive. Each national cemetery faces unique challenges, and not all assets within these standards are present at every site. standards serve as a roadmap for the future, with the hope that sufficient resources will be allocated to meet them and preserve our national cemeteries in the best condition possible. TABLE OF CONTENTS: Purpose and Scope Glossary Category 1: Cultural Landscapes Category 2: Facilities - Buildings, Structures, Monuments, Maintained Landscapes, and Circulation Category 3: General Maintenance Category 4: Headstones Category 5: Interment Operations Category 6: Signs and Directional Aids Appendix 1: Parametric Condition Assessment Scoring Appendix 2: Priority Summary Chart Appendix 3: NPS Turf Classes Reference Documents
- Type
- Standard
- Authors
- Wagner, Gia; Sabol, Steven; Dolan, Susan
- Date of Issue
- 2025-05
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- ANDE , ANJO , ANTI , BATT , COLO , FDNC , FODO , FRSP , GETC , GETT , JELA , LIBI , PETE , POGR , ROCR , SHIL , SHNC , SRNC , STRI , VICK , VINC , YORK
- Keywords
- cultural landscape, headstone, interment operations, maintained landscape, maintenance, monument standards, parametric condition assessment, planting bed standards, tree and shrub standards, turf standards