Carlsbad Caverns: Preserving History, Building Futures

What are MAT Projects?

The National Park Service's Maintenance Action Teams (MATs) are made up of people who are skilled in a variety of trades, including historic restoration and preservation work. They tackle critical repairs at our parks! They are like a rapid response team for park maintenance, ensuring our parks stay beautiful and safe for everyone to enjoy.

Corpsmembers screening sand to mix into mortar

Conservation Corps New Mexico

Carlsbad, NM – Deep beneath the desert, Carlsbad Caverns National Park holds not only a world of natural wonder, but it has also brought to the surface a new successful preservation model. With funding by the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) Legacy Restoration Fund (LRF), history above ground received some much-needed care.

Through the GAOA Maintenance Action Team (MAT) program, the park recently repaired and rehabilitated the historic westbound masonry guardrail along the 1934 entrance road as well as sections of the batflight amphitheater. This project wasn't just about fixing stones; it was about building futures. The project team repointed more than 600 linear feet of the historic masonry guardrail with new mortar and replaced loose limestone cap stones.

A corpsmember removing old mortar from the rock guardrail

Conservation Corps New Mexico

This wasn’t just any work crew. Young people from Conservation Corps New Mexico joined forces with a recently retired master stonemason Bruce Wright as their mentor at the Park. Uniting a team of young, aspiring preservationists with a skilled master tradesperson in a national park setting, provides invaluable team experiences while allowing the specialized knowledge from a long career to be passed on and inspire the future workforce. “Bruce’s expertise is undoubtedly very high level and valuable for the dying trade of repointing and preservation of this nature,” says Facility Manager Keenan Comer. “He is an outstanding example of our preservation mission and made a long-lasting positive impression on the young project crew members, while preserving our history for visitors today and in the future.”

The project team learned new skills for life and had the opportunity to further explore their passion for the outdoors and preservation. “When I got here it really motivated me to go out, go beyond my limits and learn something new,” says corpsmember Malcom Begay.

Team members gained a broader and fresh perspective on honoring the natural resources and the importance of taking that context into consideration when working on such a project. They also grew confidence in their ability to learn new skills and better understand what possibilities are available to them and how to pursue them. “This project has broadened what I knew was possible, what jobs I knew existed, what I could do,” says corpsmember Rebeka Diosas.

The project mentor, Bruce Wright, is also very happy with the outcome. “Really they have learned more than masonry. It’s work ethic too. I can see how they started off and how they’re ending. They’ve gained skills and knowledge where they can go out and apply their training and pass it on. Every morning we set goals and they reach them. It’s a win-win situation for all parties.”

A corpsmember applies new mortar to the historic stone guardrail

Conservation Corps New Mexico

Infrastructure funding from 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's Legacy Restoration Fund provides up to $1.3 billion per year for five years to the National Park Service to make significant enhancements in national parks to ensure their preservation and provide opportunities for recreation, education, and enjoyment for current and future visitors.

The MAT program uses these funds to bring NPS staff who are trained in historic restoration and preservation work, along with youth corps, to national parks to perform smaller, but critical, maintenance rehabilitation and repair projects. MATs enable the NPS to complete projects that require consistent high-quality work from skilled craftspeople at a time when fewer people are practicing traditional trades.