NPS historic preservation teams complete deferred maintenance and repair activities funded by the Great American Outdoors Act

Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Shannon Estenoz and NPS Director Chuck Sams visit with employees of the NPS Historic Preservation Training Center.

Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Shannon Estenoz and National Park Service (NPS) Director Chuck Sams recently met with employees of the NPS Historic Preservation Training Center (HPTC) to acknowledge their crucial role in tackling deferred maintenance and repairs in national parks, including projects funded by the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA).

GAOA is part of a concerted effort to address the extensive deferred maintenance and repair backlog in national parks. Supported by revenue from energy development, GAOA provides up to $1.3 billion per year for five years to make significant enhancements in national parks to ensure their preservation and provide opportunities for recreation, education, and enjoyment for current and future visitors.

GAOA primarily funds large multi-million-dollar infrastructure projects in national parks. However, a percentage supports HPTC efforts to perform smaller, but critical, maintenance repairs on historic structures including forts, homes, masonry walls and fencing. Through GAOA, HPTC has formed multiple geographically based Maintenance Action Teams (MAT) composed of trades specialists to complete historic restoration and preservation projects. This cadre of experienced craftspeople, including masons and carpenters, enables the NPS to complete projects that require consistent high-quality work at a time when fewer people are practicing traditional trades.

With approximately $14 million in GAOA funding awarded in 2021, MAT teams are working on repair and restoration activities in 59 national parks spread throughout 33 states. A proposed $20 million from GAOA in 2023 will allow them to undertake similar projects in additional parks. MAT teams provide cost-effective opportunities for smaller parks to complete much needed maintenance activities that require the unique trade skills and techniques provided by HPTC.

Estenoz and Sams toured the HPTC headquarters in Frederick, Maryland and Antietam National Battlefield to see the work of MAT teams first-hand. They started at the HPTC training facility and learned about programs that teach hands-on, project-based historic preservation trade skills, including masonry, carpentry, wood-crafting and painting. They interacted with employees, including a number of military veterans and youth corp members. At Antietam National Battlefield, Estenoz and Sams toured Antietam National Cemetery and viewed several projects recently completed in collaboration with HPTC, including the rehabilitated rostrum, lodge, headstones and masonry.

They ended their tour at Antietam’s Piper House, where HPTC is rehabilitating a piece of history with $426,000 provided by GAOA. In 1862, the house and surrounding 184-acre farm played a significant role in the bloodiest one-day battle of the Civil War. Now part of the national park, the property is an important part of the historic landscape and helps visitors envision the setting that existed when rival armies converged at Antietam.

Although the Piper House is undergoing extensive rehabilitation work, its historical appearance will be carefully maintained. Estenoz and Sams met with HPTC employees who are repairing and painting the west and north porches and doors, repointing stone pier mortar joints, replacing rafters and roofing, repairing windows and doors, removing and replacing deteriorated lap siding, and installing a new gutter and downspout system.

Other recent MAT GAOA activities include rehabilitating masonry recessed wall sections at Poplar Grove National Cemetery at Petersburg National Battlefield and restoring historic cabins in Prince William Forest Park.