Assessing the factors affecting the condition of vegetation | NPS 18 NERO 0177

Opportunity Information: Apply for NPS 18 NERO 0177

The grant opportunity titled "Assessing the factors affecting the condition of vegetation" is a National Park Service (NPS) financial assistance notice issued primarily for transparency and public awareness rather than as a competitive funding solicitation. In other words, it is not an invitation for organizations to apply. The announcement explicitly states twice that it is not a request for applications, which typically indicates the NPS has an identified recipient in mind and is publishing the notice to satisfy public notice requirements associated with certain cooperative agreements and assistance awards.

From a funding and administrative standpoint, the opportunity is categorized as a discretionary award and uses a Cooperative Agreement as the funding instrument. A cooperative agreement generally differs from a standard grant because it anticipates substantial involvement by the federal agency in carrying out the project. That involvement can include collaboration on study design, data collection strategies, analysis approaches, reporting, or other technical and managerial elements. The activity category is listed as "Science and Technology and other Research and Development," which signals that the work is intended to generate, analyze, or interpret scientific information rather than, for example, building infrastructure or delivering social services. The associated CFDA number is 15.945, which corresponds to NPS assistance programs and is commonly used to track and report federal assistance activities.

The subject matter of the project is vegetation condition and the factors influencing it. While the notice does not provide the specific technical scope, a project with this title in an NPS context typically centers on understanding why plant communities are changing or showing signs of stress within park units or surrounding landscapes. "Factors affecting condition" often includes natural drivers (such as climate patterns, drought, storms, wildfire regimes, soil characteristics, pests, and disease) as well as human-influenced stressors (such as invasive species, air pollution, altered hydrology, visitor use impacts, adjacent land use, and historical land management). Work under such a project may involve field monitoring, vegetation surveys, analysis of long-term trends, remote sensing or GIS-based mapping, and the development of management-relevant interpretations that help park staff prioritize restoration, protection, or adaptive management actions.

The opportunity record indicates an award ceiling of $85,135, which suggests a modest, targeted research effort rather than a large multi-year program. The listing shows "ExpectedAwards:" without a number provided, but given the structure and the repeated statement that applications are not being requested, it is consistent with a single intended award or a limited set of awards already determined by the agency. The original closing date is shown as 2018-09-08, which in this context functions more as an administrative milestone for the public notice period rather than a deadline for proposal submissions. The record was created on 2018-08-30, placing the notice in late summer 2018.

Eligibility is described broadly as "Others," but that label is largely academic here because the announcement is not open for applications. In other NPS cooperative agreement contexts, "Others" can include non-federal partners such as universities, research institutions, nonprofit organizations, and other qualified entities that can carry out scientific and technical work in collaboration with the agency. The key practical takeaway is that this posting is informational: it signals NPS intent to provide financial assistance for research and development activities focused on vegetation condition, identifies the administrative program and award mechanism, and provides basic funding parameters, but it does not provide an application pathway for new applicants to compete for the funds.

• The National Park Service in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Assessing the factors affecting the condition of vegetation" 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 2018-08-30.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2018-09-08. (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 $85,135.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

Apply for NPS 18 NERO 0177

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