Following passage of the 1998 National Parks Omnibus Management Act (also known as the Thomas Bill), the National Park Service (NPS) secured funding through the Natural Resource Challenge (NRC) to promote scientifically sound management of parks, increase the scientific community's involvement in providing needed information, and facilitate education to engage the public as partners in resource preservation. Two NRC programs, the park-based Research Learning Centers (RLCs) and the university-based Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESUs), aim to meet the science needs of parks through facilitating research by external scientists that directly addresses management-identified needs. These programs can only be successful if relevant research results are effectively transferred to park resource specialists and then on to decision-makers so that scientific knowledge can be considered when planning and managing for park management goals. Despite a mandate to use the highest-quality science and information for management, a variety of practical challenges remain. This paper summarizes observations made by NPS participants at a 2005 George Wright Society (GWS) Conference day-capper session to overcome challenges to the use of science for park management.