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

The National Park Service (NPS), under its Youth and Veteran Organizations Conservation Activities program (CFDA 15.931), awarded $400,698.43 to The Great Basin Institute (operating through its Nevada Conservation Corps division) on September 26, 2025, for a cooperative agreement extending through December 31, 2028. The award funds workforce development and conservation services at Whiskeytown, California, wherein young adult technicians receive hands-on training and employment in wildfire prevention, post-wildfire habitat restoration, and land management activities. Technicians will conduct natural resource surveys, execute fuels management treatments to reduce wildfire risk, support post-fire ecosystem recovery in sensitive resource areas, and assist in controlling invasive species spread within the park unit.

The deliverables under this cooperative agreement include completion of wildfire risk reduction projects on schedule, preservation and protection of special status and endangered plant populations during prevention and recovery actions, and restoration of focal areas with unique ecological value. The program benefits multiple stakeholder groups including non-profit institutions, academic organizations, state and local government agencies, youth and young adult career trainees, and the general public through developed conservation programs and projects that address critical natural resource management priorities on Department of the Interior lands while providing meaningful career pathways for young adults and veterans.

This program utilizes qualified non-profit youth- and veteran-serving organizations to carryout 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 will provide young adult technicians the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in wildfire prevention, post-wildfire restoration, and land management to protect both NPS resources and surrounding communities. Technicians will assist with wildfire risk reduction by completing natural resource surveys and treatments in fuels management areas, as well as support post-wildfire habitat recovery and restoration in focal areas with unique and sensitive resources. The outcome will be to ensure wildfire risk reduction projects are completed on schedule, preserve and protect special status and endangered plant populations during wildfire prevention and recovery actions and reduce the spread of noxious invasive species within the park unit.beneficiaries include private non-profit institutions and organizations public and private non-profitacademic 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.