National Parks for New Audiences Diversifying Interpretation for Enhanced Contemporary Relevance Daniel E. Coslett and Manish Chalana ABSTRACT: Changing sociocultural and historiographic contexts require new approaches to interpretation and presentation at National Park Service–administered sites. Through the study of two NPS parks in Washington State (San Juan Island National Historical Park and Whitman Mission National Historic Site), this article explores the agency’s interpretive programs and practices in relation to founding mandates and contemporary relevance. As demonstrated by these case studies, efforts to expand programming and presentations within the NPS system are ongoing but at present insufficient in light of current changes in demographics and visitation. Ultimately, for the NPS to remain relevant in the twenty-first century it must respect founding man- dates but diversify interpretation of its parks’ contested histories, thereby enhancing its contemporary relevance and better engaging today’s audiences. KEY WORDS: National Park Service, founding mandate, site interpretation, contested history, diversity Introduction As US demographics continue to shift, so have the interpretive approaches of the US National Park Service (NPS), which in 2016—its centennial year—stewards more than four hundred historic properties nationwide and last year alone hosted over 305 million visitors. 1 The agency has responded to changing interests among diversifying audiences and to declining visitation at many of its parks through various campaigns intended to redefine, broaden, and reinforce its significance and appeal. In the words of its former director, Fran Mainella, the NPS is ‘‘an institution with a unique and vital role to play in telling America’s story and nurturing an informed citizenry—a mission of high national purpose.’’ 2 As such, THE PUBLIC HISTORIAN, Vol. 38, No. 4, pp. 101–128 (November 2016). ISSN: 0272–3433, electronic ISSN 1533-8576.  2016 by The Regents of the University of California and the National Council on Public History. All rights reserved. Please direct all requests for permission to photocopy or reproduce article content through the University of California Press’s Reprints and Permissions web page, http://www.ucpress.edu/journals.php?p¼reprints. DOI: 10.1525/tph.2016.38.4.101. 1 National Park Service, NPS Stats website, ‘‘Annual Recreation Visitation by Park Type or Region for: 2015,’’ https://irma.nps.gov/Stats/; and Glenn Nelson, ‘‘More NPS Attendance Marks Fall,’’ The Trail Posse, January 5, 2016, http://trailposse.com/2016/01/national-parks-2015-top-20/. 2 Fran Mainella quoted in Nora Mitchell et al., eds., Keeping National Parks Relevant in the 21st Century (Woodstock, VT: Conservation Study Institute, 2006), v. 101