It is customary within the Antarctic Treaty System for the proponent (or proponents) of an Antarctic Specially Managed Area (ASMA) to assume the lead role in management within the Area. In the case of ASMA No.5 Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, the United States is the only permanently resident operator and the original proponent, and therefore plays the lead role in coordinating activities within the Area.
ASMA No.5 Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station covers an area of approximately 26,344 km² and encompasses the station facilities and surrounding research and monitoring sites. The ASMA is designed to facilitate management of activities in the region in order that the special scientific, environmental, and historical values of the area are conserved. Effective coordination and management of activities in the area is needed to ensure that conflicts between activities and cumulative environmental impacts do not occur. The objectives of management are to:
- Facilitate scientific research while maintaining stewardship of the environment;
- Promote and assist with the planning and coordination of human activities at South Pole to manage actual or potential conflicts among different values (including those of different scientific disciplines), activities and operators;
- Ensure the long-term protection of scientific, historic, aesthetic, wilderness and other values of the Area by minimizing disturbance to or degradation of these values, including disturbance to natural features, and by minimizing the cumulative environmental impacts of human activities;
- Minimize the footprint of all facilities and scientific experiments established in the Area while allowing for necessary modifications and improvements to these in a manner consistent with the other objectives of the Management Plan;
- Minimize any physical disturbance, release of pollutants, contamination and wastes produced within the Area, and take all practical steps to contain, treat, remove or remediate these whether produced in the course of normal activities or by accident;
- Promote use of energy systems and modes of transport within the Area that have the least environmental impact, and minimize as far as practicable the use of fossil fuels for the conduct of activities within the Area;
- Improve the understanding of natural processes and human impacts both locally within the Area and globally, including through the conduct of monitoring programs;
- Encourage communication and co-operation between users of the Area, in particular through dissemination of information on the Area and the provisions that apply; and
- Prevent the unintended introduction of species not native to the Area, and minimize as far as practicable the unintended transfer of native species within the Area.