Last updated: September 7, 2026
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Youth Conservation Corps Crew Leader Preserves Fort Smith National Historic Site's History
NPS Photo
The YCC Program engages young people in meaningful work experiences in national parks and other public lands. As a YCC crew leader, Ethan served as part of the National Park Service Maintenance Action Team program, which engages the next generation of public service workers in traditional trades while addressing critical facility and maintenance needs at parks. This project was supported by a grant from the National Park Foundation.
Ethan worked at Fort Smith National Historic Site, which preserves nearly 80 years of United States history, from 1817 to 1896, and stewards the stories of Westward Expansion, the Civil War, the Trail of Tears, federal Indian policy, California gold rush, outlaws and lawmen, and Judge Isaac C. Parker's 21-year jurisdiction over the Western District of Arkansas.
Discovering the Youth Conservation Corps Program
For Ethan, working outdoors has always come naturally to him. He grew up helping on his family’s ranch and caring for their cattle. He also learned how to build fences, operate tractors, and use power tools.Before the YCC program, Ethan knew little about the National Park Service. That changed after a day riding dirt bikes in the woods with his friend Jaiylen, a YCC program alum and current seasonal Maintenance Worker at Fort Smith, who shared his experiences.
Inspired by his friend's career journey, Ethan applied for and joined Fort Smith’s YCC crew during his sophomore year of high school. Performing landscaping, plumbing repairs, minor carpentry, and assisting with historic preservation projects throughout this summer sparked his interest in continuing to develop skills that he could apply to a future career and bring back to his family’s ranch.
Preserving Fort Smith's History Through Leadership and Hands-On Work
As a YCC Crew Leader, Ethan discusses and develops a daily work plan for his crew with facility management leadership. He then delegates the tasks to members and provides hands-on support.“Ethan is a natural leader, and his previous experience has been a tremendous help in training and overseeing the crew. The crew’s productivity has freed up time for our team to focus on other mission-critical work and wrap up end-of-year projects,” explained Fort Smith’s YCC Coordinator and Maintenance Worker Casey Ellis.
During his service term, Ethan and the crew members preserved Fort Smith’s history and created a better experience for visitors. Together, they accomplished the following:
- Replaced the deteriorating boards on the historic reproduction gallows and repainted the structural components.
- Replaced the doors of the historic commissary building.
- Rehabilitated the years of deferred maintenance for the Charleston High School commemorative sign.
- Repainted the interior of the historic courthouse and visitor center and replaced the visitor center’s bathroom tiles.
- Beautified the park by maintaining the 37 acres of historic and cultural landscape.
- Assisted towards the certification of Fort Smith as the first National Park Service unit in Arkansas to be certified as a Dark Sky International Urban Night Sky Place.
- Performed historic preservation on the First Fort retaining wall and preservation work on the reconstructed Second Fort bastion stone wall exhibits.
NPS Photo
What Did It Mean to You to Steward America's Story and Contribute to the National Park Service's Commemoration of the Nation's 250th Anniversary?
“It made me feel proud of my work. I’ve learned that there is always a story behind national parks and we should support the history of parks because they are important to who we are,” Ethan reflected.His proudest accomplishment this service term has been the preservation of the Charleston High School (CHS) commemorative sign, which identifies CHS’s role in the Civil Rights movement. In 1954, three years prior to Little Rock Central High School’s integration, Charleston became one of the first districts in the south to integrate all grade levels.
The National Park Service honors Charleston’s legacy as a National Commemorative Site. Over time, the commemorative sign at CHS deteriorated, becoming unreadable and losing its clarity. Ethan and the YCC crew helped refurbish and clean its sign and brick structure and collaborated with high school staff to clean the entrance hallway, which houses memorabilia highlighting the site.
NPS Photo
A New Skill Learned: Masonry
This service term, Ethan learned a new traditional trades skill, masonry, through restoring the reconstructed second fort’s stone bastions.Water had been able to seep into the grooves mortar joints and erode them. A facility maintenance specialist in masonry taught and mentored Ethan in preservation techniques. He learned how to create an appropriate mortar mixture based on mortar sampling analysis to match the original color tones of the bastions and use trowels and tools to repair and tuck point mortar joints, fill gaps, and reposition stones that had shifted over time.
NPS Photo
How Has This Experience Prepared You for Your Career Journey?
“This experience has given me the confidence to be a leader and has made me think about my next career steps. With the NPS, I am interested in working at Yosemite National Park. I have always heard about it, and with my experiences at Fort Smith, I feel that I would succeed at a larger park,” Ethan explained.Although his duties focused on facilities and maintenance operations, these experiences broadened Ethan’s awareness of other divisions and roles that help uphold the NPS mission. While he enjoys traditional trades work, he is now also drawn to learning how biologists and resource managers protect and manage wildlife.
“For anyone my age interested in learning about the NPS, I recommend they join the YCC program. I was able to learn a lot, and it got me connected with park rangers,” Ethan. “But most importantly, never give up on pursuing your dreams and learning from history.”