The natural resource stewardship program is the principle means through which the national park service (NPS) evaluates and improves the health of watersheds, landscapes, and marine and coastal…

The National Park Service (NPS) National Office awarded a Cooperative Agreement totaling $182,987 to Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy on August 18, 2025, under the Natural Resource Stewardship Program (CFDA 15.944). This agreement, with a completion date of December 31, 2028, funds three primary activities focused on pollinator and endangered butterfly conservation in California national park lands. The cooperating organization will complete a baseline inventory and reporting on 17,000 previously collected bee specimens, conduct inventory and habitat assessment work for the federally endangered San Bruno elfin butterfly, and support ongoing monitoring efforts for the endangered Mission Blue butterfly. These efforts build upon an established partnership between the NPS and Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy to steward sensitive pollinators and restore habitat for two federally protected species.

The Natural Resource Stewardship Program supports research, operational, and educational activities designed to evaluate and improve ecosystem health while enhancing resilience to climate change impacts. This cooperative agreement directly advances the program's mandate to sustain biological communities within the National Park System through species inventory, monitoring, and habitat restoration. The deliverables—scientific data documentation, baseline species inventories, and monitoring protocols—will inform ongoing resource management decisions and benefit the general public through improved conservation of endangered species and pollinator habitat within national park lands.

The natural resource stewardship program is the principle means through which the national park service (NPS) evaluates and improves the health of watersheds, landscapes, and marine and coastal resources, sustains biological communities on the lands and waters in parks, and actively endeavors to improve the resiliency of these natural resources and adapt them to the effects of climate change. To carry out and further this stewardship responsibility, NPS implements programs that encompass a broad range of research, operational, and educational activities by utilizing park personnel and contractor support or cooperative agreements. This agreement builds on a long history of working with the recipient to steward sensitive pollinators and their habitat in the park, including promoting recovery of two federally endangered species. This agreement has three main actions: identifying and reporting on 17,000 bees that were previously collected to complete a baseline inventory inventorying endangered SAN bruno elfin butterflies and habitat and supporting monitoring for the endangered mission blue butterfly. Beneficiaries include the general public.