Improve Access to Information on Cultural and Natural Resources | P17AS00384

Opportunity Information: Apply for P17AS00384

The grant opportunity titled Improve Access to Information on Cultural and Natural Resources is a National Park Service (NPS) cooperative agreement focused on making long-standing NPS resource management records easier to find and use. These records are considered permanent because they document decades of work related to protecting and managing cultural and natural resources across the national park system. A central problem the opportunity addresses is that a large portion of NPS archival holdings remain inaccessible in practice: more than 40 known agency archives have not been cataloged, which limits the ability of NPS staff, researchers, and the public to locate and rely on important historical and scientific information when making decisions or conducting research.

At its core, the project combines two goals that reinforce each other. First, it improves access to NPS archival information by inventorying and digitizing major collections that are currently difficult to use. Second, it functions as an educational, hands-on workforce development effort by creating structured, archives-focused work experience for students in archaeology, archival studies, and digital information fields. The idea is to complement classroom learning with real-world archival processing and digitization work, while also producing tangible outcomes that help the NPS meet its records and access needs.

The work is centered at the Western Archeological and Conservation Center (WACC) in Tucson, Arizona, where a very large volume of uncataloged material is housed. Students, working in cooperation with professional archivists from the Intermountain Region Museum Services Program, are expected to inventory roughly 1 million uncataloged archival records. The inventory component is meant to generate initial descriptive information about what is in these collections, essentially creating the first layer of discovery that allows people to know what exists and where it is. In addition to inventorying, the project includes a significant digitization effort: approximately 35,000 items are slated for digitization from WACC's Ruins Stabilization collection, along with several smaller archaeology and historic preservation collections. The digitization work is framed as part of broader, ongoing NPS efforts to share information more widely while standardizing practices.

A notable feature of the opportunity is its emphasis on applying formal federal standards for digitization. The project specifically references the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) digitization protocols and best practices, signaling that the digitized outputs are expected to follow established quality, documentation, and management guidelines rather than ad hoc scanning. This is important because consistent standards affect long-term usability, authenticity, and preservation of digital surrogates, as well as their value for research and decision-making.

Administratively, this is a discretionary funding opportunity from the Department of the Interior, National Park Service, offered through a cooperative agreement (meaning NPS likely anticipates substantial involvement in the project rather than a hands-off grant). The funding activity category is Natural Resources, and the CFDA number listed is 15.945. Eligibility is limited to public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, aligning with the student training and educational work experience angle of the project. The opportunity listed an expected single award with a funding ceiling of $84,535. The posting dates indicate it was created on June 16, 2017, with an original closing date of June 26, 2017, reflecting a short application window typical of some targeted cooperative agreements.

In practical terms, the grant is best understood as a focused investment in both access and capacity: it aims to reduce a massive cataloging and digitization backlog at a key NPS archival center while training the next generation of professionals who will manage cultural and natural resource information. The intended outcome is improved discovery and availability of archival records that support preservation work, compliance and planning, research, and public transparency about NPS resource stewardship.

• The Department of the Interior, National Park Service in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Improve Access to Information on Cultural and Natural Resources" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.945.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jun 16, 2017.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 26, 2017. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $84,535.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education.

Apply for P17AS00384

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