Heritage Site Protection | USDA FS R13 2024 24 24 HTG 01

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA FS R13 2024 24 24 HTG 01

Heritage Site Protection (Funding Opportunity Number: USDA FS R13 2024 24 24 HTG 01; CFDA 10.699) is a USDA Forest Service outreach of interest (OOI) designed to identify and build relationships with potential partners who can help protect, manage, and share significant cultural and historic resources located on Forest Service public lands. Rather than operating like a typical grant solicitation with a defined pot of money and guaranteed awards, this OOI is essentially an invitation to start a partnership conversation. By submitting a response, an organization signals that it has ideas, capabilities, or program concepts the Forest Service may want to explore further through future partnership agreements and potential federal funding pathways that are available under the agency's legislative authorities.

The purpose of the opportunity sits within the Forest Service Heritage Program, which is responsible for an enormous portfolio of cultural resources. The agency reports managing roughly 277,000 known heritage sites, with hundreds more documented every year, and it recognizes that the national workload to identify, evaluate, maintain, preserve, and protect these sites is greater than current internal capacity. The OOI is meant to expand that capacity by bringing in outside partners, including historic preservation focused groups, technical specialists, and community-based participants, to support work ranging from site documentation and evaluation to recording, rehabilitation, and other preservation and stewardship activities.

A central theme of the announcement is co-stewardship. The Forest Service emphasizes collaborative approaches that respect cultural sensitivities and incorporate priorities identified by Tribes, local communities, and other interested publics. It also highlights the importance of improving cooperation and consultation with State Historic Preservation Offices and Tribal Governments. The agency frames these collaborations as beneficial not only for historic and cultural preservation, but also for broader land management goals, including maintaining healthy forests by incorporating traditional and historical knowledge into modern decision-making.

Partnership activities described in the notice cover both professional and public participation. The Forest Service notes that it employs professional heritage specialists to oversee cultural resources, but also explicitly invites participation by non-Forest Service professional specialists as well as assistance from non-professionals (members of the public), which can include supervised volunteer efforts and community engagement models. Beyond preservation outcomes, the agency points to broader benefits of partnerships such as job training, workforce development, personal growth opportunities, conservation service experience, and building public appreciation for natural and cultural resources. The agency also stresses that partnerships can help cultivate long-term community investment and shared ownership in successful preservation outcomes.

Eligibility is broad and includes for-profit entities, nonprofits, institutions of higher education, and federal, state, local, and Native American tribal governments, as well as special purpose districts such as public utility districts, fire districts, conservation districts, school districts, and ports. The listing shows an original closing date of 2025-02-07. The award ceiling is listed as 0 and expected awards are not specified, which reinforces that this is not a conventional funding announcement with a defined maximum award amount. Application directions are provided through an attached "Outreach of Interest Template Instructions" document, which is referenced as the primary source for how to submit a response and what information to include.

• The Forest Service in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Heritage Site Protection" 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 01

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