This five-year Strategic Plan has been written for one or more units of the greater National Park System administered by the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. The National Park System preserves outstanding representations of America's natural, cultural, and recreational resources of national significance. These resources constitute a significant part of America's heritage, character, and future. The National Park Service not only directly and indirectly preserves these national treasures; it also makes them available to millions of visitors from throughout the country and the world every year. This Strategic Plan was written to fulfill the requirements of Section 104 of the National Parks Omnibus Management Act of 1998. This legislation requires all field units of the National Park System prepare Strategic Plans and Annual Performance Plans consistent with the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 and make these documents available to the public. Wright Brothers National Memorial is administered by the National Park Service Outer Banks Group. The Group also includes two other parks; Fort Raleigh National Historic Site and Cape Hatteras National Seashore. The Group functions under one superintendent, management, and budget appropriation. Each park has a separate strategic plan. Wind, isolation, dunes, and the unobstructed open space of the Outer Banks of North Carolina made it an ideal location for Wilbur and Orville Wright to perfect and implement the basic principles of flight. The brothers first visited the area in 1900 to test their gliders and eventually achieved the first successful powered flight on December 17, 1903. Located in the popular tourism destination, Outer Banks, over 439,000 visitors per year visit the park. The 428-acre site contains a large granite boulder at the historic point of take-off, a 60-foot granite monument (1932) atop the Big Kill Devil Hill, and reconstructions of the brothers' 1903 living quarters and hangar. The park's visitor center has been designated as a National Historic Landmark. Wright Brothers National Memorial was originally designated as the Kill Devil Hill Monument National Memorial on March 2, 1927. The park was transferred to the NPS from the War Department on August 10, 1933 and redesignated as Wright Brothers National Memorial on December 1, 1953.