The National Park Foundation, with support from Nature Valley, Nissan TITAN, and REI, has announced grants totaling $3.5 million to expand service corps programs across the country.

With national parks facing an $11.9 billion deferred maintenance backlog, the programs will assist national parks across the country with projects ranging from invasive species removal, to historical preservation, to trail restoration while at the same time providing corps members with on-the-job training and leadership and team-building skills. NPF also is supporting efforts to engage corps members in conversations about racial equity through the Corps Network's Moving Forward Initiative, which is focused on increasing career exposure to and employment in conservation and resource management for youth and young adults of color.

Recipients of the most recent round of grants include Northwest Youth Corps' LGBTQ+ inclusion crews, which are restoring trails in Mount Rainier National Park in Washington; the Student Conservation Association's all-Latinx crew from the greater Houston area, which is performing trail restoration work and helping connect residents to the Big Thicket National Park and Preserve in Texas; and the Conservation Legacy Southeast Conservation Corps' all-female crew, which is rehabilitating trails at Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park in Tennessee.

"We are grateful to the National Park Foundation for supporting the work of service corps organizations in parks," said National Park Service acting deputy director for operations David Vela. "These service corps projects strengthen public access to parks and recreational opportunities. Equally important, they provide young, diverse leaders with incredible work experiences."