From the Rocky Mountains to the West Coast and up to Alaska, there are thousands of historic structures and archaeological sites on National Park System landscapes. They range in variety from homesteader cabins to pre-historic cave dwellings.

Taking care of these buildings and archaeological sites is a valuable job for the National Park Service, as they speak to the country’s history and its prehistory. But it hasn’t always been easy for the agency’s Vanishing Treasures program, which was created in 1998. At times administrations have proposed funding cuts for the program, and there’s also the issue of too much work for too few staff.

To learn more about this program, its accomplishments, and what it’s working on today, we’re joined by Ian Hough, the National Park Service’s Vanishing Treasures program coordinator.