Evaluation for historical wildlife data, Cape Hatteras | P15AS00397

Opportunity Information: Apply for P15AS00397

The grant opportunity titled "Evaluation for historical wildlife data, Cape Hatteras" (Funding Opportunity Number P15AS00397) is a National Park Service discretionary funding action intended to support a focused review and evaluation of historical wildlife monitoring information from Cape Hatteras National Seashore. The core purpose is practical: help the National Park Service examine what has already been collected over time, determine how useful and reliable those datasets are for management decisions, and then provide clear recommendations on how future monitoring, data handling, and analysis should be improved so the information can better support ongoing Adaptive Management Initiatives.

This notice is not a request for applications and it is not structured as an open competition. Instead, it functions as a public notice that the Department of the Interior, through the National Park Service and specifically its Cultural Resource programs, intends to make an award without full and open competition. The mechanism is a Cooperative Agreement (rather than a standard grant), which typically signals a more collaborative relationship between the federal agency and the recipient during the project. The planned award is connected to an existing cooperative agreement (P14AC00882) with Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), which is identified as a partner within the Southern Appalachian Mountains Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit. In other words, the NPS is announcing its intent to fund a specific partner for a defined scope of work rather than soliciting proposals broadly.

The project itself is described as "Analysis and management recommendations for historical wildlife data at Cape Hatteras National Seashore." In practical terms, the work would revolve around compiling and assessing legacy wildlife monitoring records, evaluating the strengths and limitations of those records (such as consistency of methods over time, completeness, potential biases, and suitability for trend analysis), and then translating that evaluation into recommendations the NPS can use. Those recommendations are expected to address future data collection approaches, data management practices (such as organization, documentation, and long-term usability of datasets), and analytical strategies that improve decision support for adaptive management. The emphasis on adaptive management suggests the NPS is looking for guidance that helps link monitoring to management actions, so that future decisions can be adjusted based on evidence from well-designed monitoring.

Administrative details in the posting reinforce that this is a notice-of-intent award rather than a typical competitive opportunity. The eligible applicant categories listed include public and state-controlled institutions of higher education and "others," but the narrative makes clear the intended recipient is Virginia Tech through the existing CESU partnership and cooperative agreement framework. The opportunity lists an original closing date of 2015-09-14 and a creation date of 2015-09-09, reflecting the short window typical of notices meant primarily for public transparency. The award ceiling is shown as 0 and the expected number of awards is not specified, which is consistent with a notice that is not seeking applications and may not provide full financial details in the public synopsis. The activity category is Natural Resources, with CFDA number 15.945, and the awarding agency is the National Park Service.

Overall, this opportunity is best understood as a targeted, collaborative effort to turn historical wildlife monitoring data at Cape Hatteras into actionable management guidance. The NPS is signaling that it plans to fund an established academic partner to evaluate legacy datasets and deliver recommendations that strengthen future monitoring design, data stewardship, and analytical methods in support of adaptive management at the seashore.

• The National Park Service in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Evaluation for historical wildlife data, Cape Hatteras" 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 2015-09-09.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2015-09-14. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Others.

Apply for P15AS00397

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