Because facility managers are not allowed to abandon Government improvements on Government-owned land, managers need to know the steps they can take to preserve future options.

The best way to keep a building from deteriorating is to keep it occupied. Options for keeping the facility occupied include leasing the building to an agency or organization other than the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. In certain situations, a facility may be rented as a recreational cabin under the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (figure 2).

Figure 2—Hogback rental cabin, Rock Creek, MT, Lolo National Forest.

Whether vacant or occupied, a facility's maintenance fees will still be assessed by the Forest Service (Cost Pool 09). Finding some way to keep the building occupied not only helps to maintain it, but can provide a financial benefit through rental fees, payment of other fees, or payment of the working capital fund (WCF) on the facility.

If the facility will remain vacant until it is needed, the facility should be mothballed to prevent deterioration or damage by vandalism. This report offers some general guidelines for temporary facility closures. The primary focus is on techniques that apply to all types of facilities, regardless of their formal status as historically significant.

Historically significant facilities that are eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places require special considerations for mothballing. The National Park Service's (NPS) Preservation Brief No. 31 "Mothballing Historic Buildings" (Park 1993) is an excellent source of information on mothballing historic buildings. Many of the techniques discussed in that preservation brief represent important commonsense measures that could be applied to any building. This report includes many suggestions from NPS Preservation Brief No. 31.