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…

The National Park Service (NPS), Department of the Interior, awarded $365,082.68 to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy (ATC) on August 6, 2025, under the Youth and Veteran Organizations Conservation Activities program (CFDA 15.931). The Cooperative Agreement, with a completion deadline of December 31, 2026, supports the ATC's delivery of intern-led trail maintenance and conservation services across four distinct projects located in Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, and Connecticut. Under this agreement, the ATC engages young adult interns in developing leadership and workforce skills while addressing critical deferred maintenance needs along the Appalachian National Scenic Trail. Specific deliverables include trail treadway rehabilitation, minor trail relocations, and installation, repair, and replacement of trail and erosion control structures.

The ATC accomplishes these objectives through established partnerships with qualified youth service organizations, ensuring comprehensive training and professional development for intern participants. Benefits of the award extend to multiple stakeholder groups, including the participating non-profit youth service organizations, state and local government agencies, academic institutions, and the general public through improved public access and safety along the 2,190-mile trail corridor. This award exemplifies the CFDA 15.931 program's dual mandate of advancing natural resource conservation on federal lands while simultaneously providing meaningful employment and career development pathways for young adults.

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. This project aims to engage interns in developing leadership and work skills while addressing critical deferred maintenance needs along the appalachian trail. Participants will receive training to tackle various maintenance tasks, including rehabilitating the trail treadway, implementing minor trail relocations, and installing, repairing, and replacing essential trail and erosion control structures. Collaborating with youth service organizations, the project will involve completing four specific projects across the states of maine, massachusetts, vermont, and connecticut, ultimately contributing to improved public access and safety on the trail. 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 benefit from the development and execution of these programs and projects.