Moores Creek National Battlefield

The National Park Service congratulates the regional recipients of the 2025 Excellence in Volunteerism Awards. These nominees embody the values of service, engagement, and stewardship fundamental to our national parks.

This finding aid describes the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) Southest Region Collection, part of the NPS History Collection.

Each park-specific page in the NPS Geodiversity Atlas provides basic information on the significant geologic features and processes occurring in the park. Links to products from Baseline Geologic and Soil Resources Inventories provide access to maps and reports.

Venus fly traps growing in a planter at Moores Creek.

Southeastern national parks inspire millions of visitors each year as places to recreate and learn about the region’s culture and history, contributing to local economies. Yet alone, these parks cannot take care of themselves. Preserving parks for the public’s long-term enjoyment requires careful stewardship, active management, along with sound scientific understanding. This is achieved through NPS’s long-term vegetation monitoring programs.

Shortbread was one of the many decadent foods saved only for special occasions during the 18th Century. Learn about where it came from and how to make it here.

NPS scientists and staff work together to protect park vegetation and the ecosystems it supports. From prescribed burns in pine savannas to invasive species removal in coastal forests, many management actions begin with one thing: science-based knowledge of what’s changing and why. To facilitate understanding, scientists from the NPS Inventory & Monitoring (I&M) Division conduct long-term vegetation monitoring in more than 40 parks across the Southeast.

Long-term monitoring of plant community condition supports the National Park Service mission to preserve natural resources unimpaired for future generations. By detecting ecological trends and stressors—such as invasive species expansion, habitat degradation, and climate-induced shifts—scientists provide park managers with actionable data to guide adaptive management and maintain ecosystem resilience.