Heritage Interpretive Assistance | USDA FS R13 2024 24 24 HTG 02

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA FS R13 2024 24 24 HTG 02

The Heritage Interpretive Assistance opportunity is a USDA Forest Service Outreach of Interest (OOI) designed to find and build relationships with potential partners who can help the agency improve how it interprets and teaches the public about the nations natural and cultural history on National Forest System lands. Rather than operating like a typical grant competition with a fixed pot of money and a set award amount, this OOI functions more like an invitation to share project ideas and capabilities so the Forest Service can explore future partnership agreements and potential federal funding pathways within its legal authorities. Submitting an OOI response is essentially a way to put your organization on the agency's radar for follow-on discussions and possible project development.

A central goal of the initiative is to strengthen public education and interpretation of history, especially by elevating perspectives from communities that have historically been marginalized or underserved. This explicitly includes Indigenous perspectives, along with broader context about the Forest Service and the history of natural resource management in the United States. The Forest Service frames this effort as supporting co-stewardship, meaning collaborative work with Tribes, communities, and partners to ensure that interpretation of places, events, and cultural resources is accurate, culturally sensitive, and aligned with community priorities. The agency also emphasizes that these partnerships can improve cooperation and consultation with State Historic Preservation Offices, Tribal governments, and the public.

The practical need behind the OOI is substantial. The Forest Service manages about 193 million acres, including 36.6 million acres of wilderness, roughly 158,000 miles of trails, about 4,300 campgrounds, nine national monuments, and one national historic site. Many of these places rely on kiosks, interpretive panels, displays, and other public-facing materials to share safety information, improve visitor experiences, and provide historical and cultural context. The agency notes that much of this interpretive material is outdated, incomplete, or in disrepair, and that heritage program workloads nationwide exceed internal capacity. Partnerships are presented as a way to close this gap by adding skilled support and increasing the pace and quality of interpretation and education work.

Partners may contribute in a range of ways, with a clear example being the development of interpretive text and artwork in collaboration with Forest Service staff and consultants. Materials are expected to reflect current agency priorities, present accurate historical perspectives, and meet overall program goals. Beyond products like signs and displays, the Forest Service also highlights broader heritage-program participation, such as sharing successful working models, helping structure and implement partnership agreements, and supporting efforts that promote historic preservation and cultural awareness. The opportunity also points to downstream benefits of partnership work, including deeper community engagement, shared ownership of outcomes, and workforce-related benefits like job training, personal development, conservation service experience, and cultivating the next generation of natural resource stewards.

Eligibility is broad and includes for-profit entities, nonprofits, institutions of higher education, and government entities at the federal, state, local, and Tribal levels, as well as special purpose districts such as public utility districts, fire districts, conservation districts, school districts, and ports. Key administrative details in the notice include the opportunity number USDA FS R13 2024 24 24 HTG 02, CFDA 10.699, agency Forest Service, category "Other" for both opportunity and instrument type, and an original closing date of 2025-02-07. The notice lists an award ceiling of $0 and does not specify expected awards, reinforcing that this is primarily an outreach and partner-solicitation mechanism rather than a standard announced grant with predefined funding amounts. Application instructions are provided through an attached Outreach of Interest Template Instructions document, which applicants are directed to use when preparing their submission.

• The Forest Service in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Heritage Interpretive Assistance" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.699.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-10-07.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-02-07. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for USDA FS R13 2024 24 24 HTG 02

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: