Conservation Legacy

Conservation Legacy, doing business as Southwest Conservation Corps, is a tax-exempt nonprofit based in Durango, Colorado that recruits, trains, and deploys youth and veteran crews aged 16-35 to perform natural resource conservation, habitat restoration, trail maintenance, historic preservation, and cultural resource management on Department of the Interior lands as the prime recipient of federal grants (98% of awards). The organization operates across the United States through field crews stationed at national parks, monuments, and wildlife refuges, delivering workforce development and career training alongside conservation outcomes.

The organization's grant portfolio centers on the Youth and Veteran Organizations Conservation Activities program (CFDA 15.931) administered by the National Park Service, which accounts for the majority of awards. Representative work includes a $1.207 million AmeriCorps State and National grant (CFDA 94.006) awarded July 31, 2026, by the Corporation for National and Community Service to fund the 2026-27 AmeriCorps Native Nations Program, under which Conservation Legacy recruits and deploys AmeriCorps members aged 16 and older across the United States to perform conservation work while earning living allowances and Segal AmeriCorps Education Awards. The organization also holds a $3.154 million NPS cooperative agreement (CFDA 15.931) to place approximately 50 college students and early-career professionals in 12 to 52-week paid science-based internships in national parks, and a $3.33 million cooperative agreement to deploy approximately 40 interns across 40 national parks for volunteer management and conservation support.

Customer concentration is heavily concentrated in the Department of the Interior National Park Service ecosystem. The National Park Service accounts for 270 awards across its National Office and regional units—Intermountain Region (215 awards), National Office (187 awards), Southeast Region (77 awards), and Northeast Region (62 awards)—representing 69% of all awards in the source. By potential value, the Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs Navajo Region leads at $13.3 million across 25 awards, followed by the Bureau of Reclamation at $200 thousand across 28 awards. This concentration reflects Conservation Legacy's focus on workforce development partnerships with federal land management agencies rather than competitive procurement across diverse agencies.

Conservation Legacy sits on parent vehicles including Indefinite Delivery Contract INA12PC00503 (18 task orders, $2.1 million combined potential value) and INA16PC00131 (4 task orders, $616 thousand combined potential value), both Department of the Interior instruments. The organization also holds Blanket Purchase Agreements including INR12PA30162 (2 task orders, $50 thousand combined potential value).

The organization has experienced steady award volume over the past five years—83 awards in 2022, 109 in 2023, 102 in 2024, and 116 in 2025—with 110 awards facing ultimate completion in the next 24 months, creating significant recompete opportunity and pipeline pressure. The combined obligated dollars across all awards ($365.8 million) far exceed combined potential value ($13.7 million), reflecting the multiyear and ongoing nature of cooperative agreements with federal agencies. Sub-award activity is minimal (2% of awards), with Conservation Legacy primarily operating as a direct recipient rather than a subcontractor to other organizations. The organization's federal grant footprint encompasses the National Park Service (primary partner), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and AmeriCorps, positioning it as a cornerstone implementer of federal youth workforce development and public lands stewardship initiatives.