Southwest Border Resource Protection Program | P18AS00019

Opportunity Information: Apply for P18AS00019

The Southwest Border Resource Protection Program (SWBRPP) is a National Park Service (NPS) funding opportunity run out of the NPS Intermountain Regional Office in Denver. Its purpose is to provide financial assistance for projects that strengthen stewardship of natural and cultural resources along or near the United States border with Mexico. The program is designed to support practical, on-the-ground protection work as well as research, monitoring, education, interpretation, and information sharing that build a deeper public understanding of the region's shared heritage and encourage cooperation across borders.

A central reason this program exists is the documented resource damage affecting multiple park units in the desert Southwest and along the border. The opportunity highlights impacts linked to illegal cross-border activity, including the creation of thousands of miles of unauthorized roads and trails, disruption of key ecological processes and wildlife movement patterns, vandalism of historic places, and looting of archaeological sites. SWBRPP funding is aimed at countering those pressures by supporting scientific studies and monitoring that clarify what is happening on the ground, and by funding conservation, preservation, and interpretation work that reduces harm and restores affected areas.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to build their proposals in close coordination with at least one of ten NPS units near the international border. The parks specifically listed are Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Big Bend National Park, Amistad National Recreation Area, Palo Alto National Historic Site, Padre Island National Seashore, Saguaro National Park, Tumacacori National Historical Park, Chamizal National Memorial, Coronado National Memorial, and Chiricahua National Monument. This emphasis signals that projects should be park-relevant, aligned with real management needs, and planned collaboratively with NPS staff who understand local conditions, priorities, and compliance requirements.

The program funds projects under three broad categories. The first is Research, which includes cultural resource documentation such as identifying, researching, and evaluating archaeological and historic sites and preparing nominations for the National Register of Historic Places or National Historic Landmarks. Research also covers natural resource issues like wildlife habitat management, inventorying and monitoring invasive plants and animals, studying climate change impacts on endangered species, and assessing how border-related activities affect threatened and endangered species. The second category is Protection, which includes preservation of cultural resources through stabilization, rehabilitation, and restoration of historic structures, archaeological sites, trails, and landscapes, as well as conservation of collections. It also includes natural resource conservation efforts such as reestablishing natural processes and ecological systems, monitoring resource damage related to human development, protecting threatened and endangered species, developing integrated pest management planning, and restoring native wildlife and vegetation, including removing exotic species. The third category is Education, Interpretation, and Information Sharing, which supports professional training and exchange activities such as student internship programs, workshops and symposia, training programs, binational conferences, informational network gatherings, and the development of interpretive materials and public-facing programs.

Awards are made as cooperative agreements, meaning projects are expected to be carried out with substantial involvement from the NPS. Each funded project is individually authorized through its own separate award, and each one must have a distinct work plan and budget developed cooperatively between the NPS and the partner organization. The opportunity is listed as a discretionary funding program in the natural resources activity area under CFDA number 15.954.

Eligibility is broad and includes state, county, and city or township governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; federally recognized tribal governments; tribal organizations that are not federally recognized governments; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofit organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status (as long as they are not institutions of higher education); and private institutions of higher education. The sponsoring agency is the Department of the Interior, National Park Service. For the referenced opportunity posting (P18AS00019), the notice lists an award ceiling of $50,000, an expectation of about seven awards, a creation date of November 27, 2017, and an original closing date of January 26, 2018.

• The Department of the Interior, National Park Service in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Southwest Border Resource Protection Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.954.
• This funding opportunity was created on Nov 27, 2017.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jan 26, 2018. (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 $50,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 7 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education.

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