BCHA Signs New 5-Year Agreement with National Park Service

National Parks Service

In February 2023, BCHA Chairman Sherry Copeland and National Park Service
(NPS) Director Charles F. Sams, III, signed a 5-year General Agreement oriented
toward mutual cooperation. It’s a long-awaited renewal of BCHA’s previous
agreement with the agency. The agreement encourages national park units
throughout the nation to partner with local BCH chapters for service, education-
related and trail maintenance projects.

Park units across the nation include National Parks, National Monuments,
National Preserves, National Battlefield Parks, and National Historical Sites or
Parks that are managed by the NPS.

The new agreement provides a framework for cooperation and encourages BCHA
chapters to work with NPS park managers and superintendents to identify and
implement volunteer projects and activities in which they may participate. Such
activities could include training seminars, living history events, ecological
restoration activities, Leave No Trace™ equine education programs, and service
projects including trail and horse camp maintenance

We recommend that BCHA chapters who desire to work with the NPS share a
copy of the agreement with local park staff as a starting point for such a
conversation. While the agreement does not commit a particular park to a course
of action sharing the agreement with local park staff is proof positive that BCHA,
and its ethic of volunteer service, continues to carry the “stamp of approval” of
the NPS Director.
Additional details about the agreement can be found in BCHA’s 2023 Spring
newsletter.

We recommend you share a copy of the MOU with your local National Park recreation management.