Prince William Forest Park Cultural Landscape Field School | P19AS00238

Opportunity Information: Apply for P19AS00238

The Prince William Forest Park Cultural Landscape Field School grant opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number P19AS00238) is a National Park Service cooperative agreement focused on documenting and evaluating important historic cultural landscapes within Prince William Forest Park in Virginia. The park has deep roots in the New Deal era, beginning in the 1930s as Chopawamsic Recreational Demonstration Area, where the federal government assembled land and used Civilian Conservation Corps labor to build rustic group cabin camps designed to give urban youth access to nature and healthier outdoor living. Between 1935 and 1939, five organized group camps were constructed along with more than 49 buildings and extensive supporting infrastructure such as roads, trails, and recreational features. The landscape then took on a very different role during World War II, when the Office of Strategic Services used the area for training and closed it to the public for security. Public camp use resumed after the war, and in 1948 the area became Prince William Forest Park, a formal unit of the National Park Service. Building on earlier work, including a 2011 Cultural Landscape Inventory completed for Cabin Camp 1, this field school effort continues a broader series of documentation projects aimed at capturing the park's landscape history, features, and current conditions in a standardized way.

The work supported by this opportunity centers on three main deliverables: field surveys, existing conditions mapping, and written narrative documentation that together form or support Cultural Landscape Inventories. For field surveys, participants are expected to collect systematic information about cultural landscape characteristics and features using established methods. That includes using GPS technology to gather accurate spatial data for locating features, using digital photography to document landscape elements and conditions, and preparing a character and condition log that records what is present, notes integrity and condition issues, and captures other field observations relevant to cultural landscape management. The notice points to the "A Practical Guide To Field Data Collection for the Prince William Forest Park Summer Field School 2018" as a reference for how this on-the-ground documentation should be carried out, suggesting the field school is structured around consistent training and repeatable survey standards.

A major technical requirement of the project is the preparation of existing conditions maps for individual properties in alignment with National Park Service cultural landscape inventory guidance. Spatial data produced through fieldwork must be delivered to NPS using the Cultural Resource Spatial Data Transfer Standard, which is essentially a standardized GIS data model and reporting structure intended to make cultural resource datasets consistent and usable across parks and programs. The opportunity references an NPS-provided geodatabase template available through IRMA (the Integrated Resource Management Applications platform). That template includes the required feature classes for cultural resource mapping as well as the minimum metadata fields and domain values needed to meet the standard. While the standard defines the minimum required fields, the project allows additional fields to be added if needed for practical project purposes, as long as the core structure remains compatible with NPS requirements. The guidance for how to structure and use this geodatabase is also provided through the Cultural Resource Spatial Data Transfer Standards documentation hosted on IRMA.

The narrative component completes the documentation package by translating field and archival findings into formal Cultural Landscape Inventory written products. Required narrative elements include an annotated historical chronology of the property's physical development, provided through an Excel spreadsheet template; a historical narrative describing how the landscape physically evolved and identifying changes across distinct historical periods; and a historical significance summary explaining how the property meets National Register of Historic Places criteria, what areas of significance it contributes to, and what the period of significance is. In addition, the inventory must include an analysis and evaluation of landscape characteristics applicable to the property, explicitly connecting those characteristics to historical significance, along with recommended stabilization measures aimed at improving or maintaining the cultural landscape's condition. Taken together, these narrative requirements show that the field school is not just about mapping features, but about producing management-ready documentation that supports preservation planning, interpretation, and long-term stewardship.

Administratively, this opportunity is issued by the Department of the Interior, National Park Service, under CFDA number 15.945, and is categorized as Science and Technology and other Research and Development. Eligible applicants are limited to public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, reflecting the field school and training-oriented nature of the work. The listed award ceiling is $53,287 with one expected award. However, the notice makes clear that this posting is a Notice of Intent and a continuation modification under an existing cooperative agreement (P18AC00160) that had already been competitively awarded. Because of that status, no new applications are being accepted, even though the posting includes original dates (created June 6, 2019; original closing date June 16, 2019). In practical terms, the listing functions as a public record of funding intent and scope for an ongoing partnership rather than an open call for proposals.

• 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 "Prince William Forest Park Cultural Landscape Field School" 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 06, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 16, 2019 This is a Notice of Intent only. This Continuation Modification is being awarded under Cooperative Agreement P18AC00160 which was already awarded under a competitive process. No applications are being accepted at this time.. (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 $53,287.00 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 P19AS00238

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