Benefit-Sharing in the National Parks
Environmental Impact Statement
What is Benefits-Sharing?
2006 Newsletter
We are pleased to announce that the National Park Service (NPS) Benefits- Sharing Draft Environmental ImpactStatement (DEIS) is now available for public comment.
2006 newsletter »
The National Parks Omnibus Management Act of 1998 authorizes NPS to negotiate benefits-sharing agreements with researchers: "The Secretary [of the Interior] may enter into negotiations with the research community and private industry for equitable, efficient benefits-sharing arrangements." (16 USC Sec. 5935)
CRADAs are used routinely by many federal agencies on collaborative research projects with other scientists. For instance, the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Energy, both federal agencies, are engaged in hundreds of active CRADAs in an effort to develop new medicines and energy technologies. In April 2000, a federal judge upheld the use of CRADAs in Yellowstone (1.6m pdf file).