The Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) of 1993 is one of the most recent and comprehensive of a number of laws and executive orders directing federal agencies to join the "performance management revolution" already embraced by private industry and many local, state, and national governments. Performance management ensures that daily actions and expenditure of resources are guided by long- and short-term goal setting in pursuit of accomplishing an organization's primary mission, followed by performance measurement and evaluation.

Strategic planning, as required by GPRA, is conducted for the National Park Service as a whole, and by every park, program, and central office to assure each will have its own specific strategic plan. Parks, programs, and central offices engage in strategic planning as a way to manage overall performance, and thereby to achieve better results in their mission of preserving resources and providing for visitor enjoyment.

Through managing for performance, parks identify their long- term goals, establish their annual performance targets, track their progress, and report their accomplishments toward meeting the National Park Service- wide, and the park’s, long- term goals.

A park’s strategic plan is based on the park’s mission goals, General Management Plan, and the Service- wide strategic plan. Strategic plans address both Service- wide and local outcomes, and are approved by the superintendent, with the regional director’s concurrence.

Cape Hatteras National Seashore Strategic Plan (2006-2011) (PDF)

Fiscal Year 2007 Annual Performance Plan, Cape Hatteras National Seashore (PDF)