Supporting the Next Generation of Park Stewards
Each summer since 2015, National Park Partners provides a portion of the funding needed to support a five-person crew of high schoolers, plus a team leader, to work in the National Park side by side with National Park Service Rangers on projects ranging from monument restoration to trail maintenance and fence building.
Thanks to our partnership with the Southeast Conservation Corps, the youth who participate in the Chickamauga & Chattanooga Conservation Crew, or C4, are able to infuse the park’s resources management staff with a reliable team ready to work hard in their park.
The SECC partnership also helps National Park Partners with our mission to engage the next generation of park stewards and advocates in preserving and promoting the stories of these national treasures.
Briley Bledsoe, 18, was a part of the 2019 C4 summer cohort and told us that her fascination with history and parks really sparked her interest in working inside Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park to learn new skills that would help conserve the park.
Briley isn’t there just to provide some needed extra hands-on help; she is also learning why these projects are important and what it takes to get them done. Landscape restoration is an important part of the interpretation of the park as rangers in the park’s cultural resource management division work closely with park historians to accurately rehabilitate the historic landscapes inside the park. When the park’s woods, vistas and fence lines look closer to the way they would have been in the 1860’s the stories of the park are more vividly told.
“I definitely learned a lot about the park's history and conservation efforts. This experience gave me a deeper understanding of the work that goes on behind the scenes in order to maintain the monuments, trails, buildings, and everything in between,” Briley said.
This summer, Briley and her new conservation colleagues focused on an important piece of landscape restoration at the Chickamauga Battlefield in Fort Oglethorpe at the Brotherton Farm.
Conserving the Brotherton Farm site this summer included the removal of invasive species from the wooded areas and perimeter of the farm. The crew’s work also entailed cleaning and reseting the farm’s fields as they once were in 1863. And with the help of GIS data, they were able to not only repair and rebuild, but also relocate the fence surrounding the farm so that its placement is more historically accurate.
“All of this hard work ensures that visitors have a pleasant, impactful experience. I previously knew about the historical battles at the park, but working there in the fields and forests really made me realize what life was like back in those days.”
These students are not only cultivating their passions as conservationists and stewards in our national park, they are also building relationships with the National Park Service becoming potential candidates for jobs through the NPS Pathways pipeline. For some of these young environmentalists, a career inside a national park would be a dream come true.
Briley agrees: “I will take this experience with me as I pursue environmental conservation as a career. Hopefully, I will be working alongside the National Park Service one day to help conserve the environment.”
Applications are open now for the 2020 crew leaders. Please share the link with a rising environmentalist in your life!
We are so grateful and proud that the next generation of passionate public land advocates have a place to pursue their dreams inside our hometown National Park!
If you would like to support this program please consider a gift in any amount today: Learn more.
