Produced, directed, written, filmed and edited by Joseph Daniel. Narrated by Peter Coyote. © 2019 Story Arts Media

Saving Places is a one-hour documentary that follows the intrepid crews and passionate volunteers of HistoriCorps, a small but mighty non-profit organization, through an entire season of challenging work preserving and restoring fifteen highly-threatened, historically-significant buildings on public lands.

From fire towers, ranger cabins and mining complexes to humble slave dwellings, iconic lodges, and legendary ranches – these structures all tell a vivid story about our past, and when preserved may help teach us about our future.

In its first nine seasons HistoriCorps has engaged 3,300 volunteers, veterans, students and youth corps and logged over 150,000 hours to save 281 historic sites in 29 states. But this effort represents only the tip of the iceberg. A recent audit by several U.S. agencies puts the number of already decaying, seriously threatened structures at an astonishing 30,000 – most of which will never be preserved due to the lack of funding or manpower. It is an inexcusable loss of history.

By definition, many of these structures are in remote, difficult to access locations, and are sometimes even under Wilderness Area restrictions, which don’t allow for the use of power tools or motorized transportation. Combine those challenges with high altitude, volatile weather conditions, dangerous animals and unskilled volunteer work crews — and it can all add up to very compelling storytelling.