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) awarded the National Council for Preservation Education a $292,363.75 Cooperative Agreement on August 11, 2025, under the Youth and Veteran Organizations Conservation Activities program (CFDA 15.931) to provide internship and collections management services across four NPS sites in Florida through December 31, 2027. The primary deliverables include cataloging over 40,000 archaeological artifacts to reduce museum backlogs, conserving more than 7,000 metal artifacts to prevent corrosion and ensure long-term preservation, cataloging natural history collections, and supporting museum staff with compliance documentation, exhibit development, and general curatorial operations. These services are performed at the Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve, Fort Caroline National Memorial, Castillo de San Marcos National Monument, and Fort Matanzas National Monument.

This funding enables NPS to enhance visitor experiences by creating educational programs and exhibits based on the processed collections, while simultaneously providing career development opportunities for youth interns in cultural resource preservation and museum management. The award supports the program's dual mandate of addressing critical resource management needs on federal lands while offering meaningful professional training in historic preservation, archaeology, and collections management for young adults entering the field.

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 protect and preserve the archaeology and natural history collections of several national park service sites, including timucuan ecological and historic preserve, fort caroline national memorial, castillo DE SAN marcos national monument, and fort matanzas national monument. An intern will catalog over 40,000 artifacts from archaeological investigations and will help reduce the museum backlog. Additionally, the intern will help NPS staff conserve over 7,000 metal artifacts to prevent corrosion, ensuring their preservation for future research and exhibits. This will result in a better experience for the visitor, as park staff will be able to create programs based on the collections and visitors will be able to connect with the park through exhibits. The intern will also assist with cataloging natural history collections, ensuring compliance with research permits, and supporting museum staff with various tasks, including housekeeping and developing new park exhibits. 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.