This program utilizes qualified non-profit youth- and veteran-serving organizations to carry out appropriate natural and cultural resource conservation, education, volunteer service and education…

Under this Cooperative Agreement awarded on June 4, 2025, by the National Park Service (NPS) through the Youth and Veteran Organizations Conservation Activities program (CFDA 15.931), Conservation Legacy, operating as Southwest Conservation Corps, will rehabilitate approximately three miles of Bullhead Trail in Tennessee. The $178,933.33 award, with completion targeted for November 19, 2026, supports comprehensive trail restoration activities including drainage improvements, re-benching and widening of trail sections, vegetation management, and trail tread regrading. The NPS Trail Crew will train and mentor Southeast Conservation Corps crew members throughout the project, directly addressing documented safety hazards such as exposed roots and rocks, erosion, and failing trail structures that compromise hiker safety and impede park rescue operations.

This initiative exemplifies the Youth and Veteran Organizations Conservation Activities program's dual mandate to address critical resource management needs while providing workforce development and career training opportunities. Beyond the immediate trail restoration benefits, the project protects park resources from damage caused by trail misuse and generates educational and service learning outcomes for youth and veteran participants. Beneficiaries include the general public, students, families, and non-profit organizations focused on natural and cultural resource conservation and management.

This program utilizes qualified non-profit youth- and veteran-serving organizations to carry out appropriate natural and cultural resource conservation, education, volunteer service and education projects on department of the interior lands through authorized national park service programs. The project aims to fully rehabilitate bullhead trail by addressing various deficiencies such as exposed roots and rocks, erosion, and failing trail structures, which pose safety hazards for hikers and hinder park rescue operations. The national park service trail crew will train and mentor southeast conservation corps crew members to help repair these issues along three miles of trail including improving trail drainage, RE-benching and widening large sections of trail, cutting back encroaching vegetation from the trail corridor, and regrading trail tread. This initiative not only enhances hiker safety but also protects park resources from increased damage due to trail misuse. Beneficiaries include private non-profit institutions and organizations public and private non-profit academic institutions state and local government agencies quasi-public non-profit institutions and organizations that support youth and young adult career training and development, and education in the areas of natural and or cultural resource conservation and management. Individuals families students and the general public will receive a benefitfrom the development and execution of these programs and projects.