DC Small Park Reservations Cultural Landscape Inventory | P18AS00401

Opportunity Information: Apply for P18AS00401

The DC Small Park Reservations Cultural Landscape Inventory grant opportunity is a National Park Service (NPS) cooperative agreement designed to document and clarify the cultural landscape history, features, and significance of small park reservations in Washington, DC that are held or managed by NPS. The project is framed around the citys long history of planned park systems beginning with Pierre Charles LEnfants 1791 plan and later reinforced by the 1901 McMillan Plan, which promoted a connected network of parks and open spaces. Because these small parks developed over long periods and have shifted between management jurisdictions, responsibilities for care and maintenance have sometimes been unclear. The opportunity responds to that challenge by funding a coordinated, standardized inventory effort that captures what exists on the ground, how it evolved, why it matters historically, and how it should be understood for future management.

The core work focuses on producing Cultural Landscape Inventories (CLIs) for the relevant small park reservations, combining field-based documentation, spatial mapping, and written narratives. Field surveys are expected to collect information on cultural landscape characteristics using GPS to capture precise spatial locations of features, along with digital photography to visually record landscape features and conditions. This means the deliverables are not just descriptive; they are meant to be spatially accurate and suitable for integration into NPS data systems, supporting consistent management decisions across multiple sites.

A major deliverable is a set of existing conditions maps for individual properties prepared in accordance with cultural landscape inventory guidance. All spatial and related data must be provided to NPS using the Cultural Resource Data Transfer Standard, ensuring the information can be reliably stored, shared, and compared across projects. Applicants are directed to use an NPS-provided geodatabase template available through IRMA, which includes the required geodatabase objects, cultural resource feature classes, metadata fields, and domain values aligned to the standard data model. While the standard defines minimum required fields, the project allows adding additional fields if they are practically necessary, as long as the final submission remains compliant. The related Cultural Resource Spatial Data Transfer Standards guidelines are also provided as a reference for how to structure and implement the geodatabase properly.

In addition to field and mapping outputs, the project requires narrative CLI documentation that explains the parks historical development and significance in a structured way. This includes an annotated historical chronology of physical development using an excel spreadsheet template, a historical narrative describing how each landscape developed and changed across distinct periods, and a historical significance summary that ties the property to National Register criteria. The significance section must explain the areas of significance, how the property contributes to them, and define the period of significance. The narrative deliverables also require an analysis and evaluation of which landscape characteristics apply to each property, how those characteristics relate to the documented significance, and what stabilization measures are relevant, connecting historical meaning to practical stewardship needs.

Administratively, this is a discretionary funding opportunity offered by the Department of the Interior, National Park Service, under a cooperative agreement funding instrument, and categorized under science and technology and other research and development. Eligibility is limited to public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, indicating the NPS is seeking an academic or similarly qualified public university partner capable of conducting field surveys, GIS and geodatabase work, and cultural landscape research and writing to federal standards. The opportunity number is P18AS00401 under CFDA 15.945. The award ceiling is 80,000 dollars, with one expected award, reflecting a single-partner project intended to produce standardized inventories and datasets that will help NPS better understand, manage, and coordinate stewardship of DCs small park reservations. The posting was created July 6, 2018, with an original closing date of July 16, 2018.

• The Department of the Interior, National Park Service in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "DC Small Park Reservations Cultural Landscape Inventory" 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 Jul 06, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jul 16, 2018. (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 $80,000.00 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 P18AS00401

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