In 2014, the National Trust launched the HOPE (Hands-On Preservation Experience) Crew to train young adults in preservation skills, while helping to protect and restore historic sites. Youth and veterans are trained in the skills necessary to perform preservation work through a cooperative agreement between the NPS, other federal land management agencies, and several NGOs including the Student Conservation Association and The Corps Network.  Projects like these reduce the deferred maintenance backlog while also providing job skills and education for the next generation of stewards of America’s most important historic sites. This work includes rehabilitating structures at Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park, Little Big Horn Battlefield National Monument, the Grand Teton National Park, and the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve in New Orleans, LA.

The National Trust's Government Relations and Policy staff developed four case studies to highlight the above mentioned HOPE Crew projects in our national parks that demonstrate the cost savings and measurable impact on the deferred maintenance backlog.