Project overview: Invest in Yosemite’s future through the Yosemite Ancestral Stewards (YAS) program that empowers Indigenous youth to become active participants in the stewardship of their ancestral homeland.

How your support helps: The Yosemite Ancestral Stewards (YAS) program provides summer work opportunities for Tribal young adults and community members, fostering pathways to careers in conservation and collaboration between Yosemite National Park and the land’s associated tribes.  

Each year, the YAS program employs a team — four young adult crew members, and one community member to lead the team as Research Associate — with support from Conservancy donors, the Great Basin Institute, and the National Park Service (NPS). Together, the crew spends eight weeks assisting park staff on a range of high-impact projects, including wilderness archaeology surveys, meadow and black oak grove restoration, native plant revegetation, fuels reduction work, and wildlife-human conflict management.  

With each project, YAS crewmembers cultivate leadership, technical skills, and cultural connections that ensure Indigenous youth are not only represented in the NPS workforce, but also actively leading the stewardship of their ancestral homelands. 

This year: In 2026, the YAS program will celebrate its sixth season and welcome a new crew of Tribal young adults and community members to the park. With your support, the YAS crew and Research Associate team leader will gain hands-on experience while supporting NPS staff in critical park projects. This year, the Research Associate will also support the planning of a Cultural Fire Training exchange, an event intended to support cultural resource management and provide prescribed fire training opportunities.

Project partner: Yosemite National Park; Great Basin Institute; Associated Tribes of Yosemite


Photo credit: Steven M. Bumgardner