1) Knowledge: To act as a central organization and clearinghouse for the collection and dissemination of knowledge about the environment and history and cultural development of regions such as the Pacific coast.
2) Database: To create a central database of the collections and resources of institutions that serve as major archives for regional and cultural history.
3) Network: To develop methods of disseminating and retrieving the information in the database by means of a high-speed computer network.
4) Access: To provide archives and institutions with methods to display information from the database that will give the general public access to this information.
5) Education: To promote the study of environmental and cultural history through sponsorship of research and travel to archival locations and the publication of the results of this research by the electronic methods of computer networked kiosks, web sites, CD-ROMs and DVD presentations.