Kobuk Valley National Park Traditional Use Study, Native Villages of Kiana and Ambler | P17AS00293

Opportunity Information: Apply for P17AS00293

The funding opportunity titled "Kobuk Valley National Park Traditional Use Study, Native Villages of Kiana and Ambler" (Funding Opportunity Number P17AS00293) is a National Park Service grant notice under the U.S. Department of the Interior. It is a discretionary award that will be issued as a cooperative agreement, meaning the National Park Service expects to have substantial involvement in the work rather than simply providing funds and receiving a final product. The activity falls under the Humanities category, specifically aligned with cultural affairs as reflected in CFDA 15.945, which is commonly used for National Park Service projects tied to cultural resources, history, ethnography, and related documentation that supports park management and interpretation.

The project focus, as indicated by the title, is a Traditional Use Study connected to Kobuk Valley National Park and the Native Villages of Kiana and Ambler in Alaska. Traditional use studies typically document long-standing subsistence, cultural, and place-based practices, including land use patterns, resource harvesting areas, travel routes, seasonal activities, culturally significant sites, and the knowledge systems that connect communities to the landscape. In a national park context, studies like this are often used to inform resource stewardship, compliance and consultation responsibilities, interpretation and education efforts, and management decisions that may affect access, subsistence activities, and protection of culturally important places. While the notice says "See attached document for further detail," the basic structure of the opportunity signals that the work is expected to be collaborative, community-informed, and grounded in cultural documentation methods appropriate for Alaska Native communities and the park setting.

Eligibility for this award is limited to public and state-controlled institutions of higher education. The notice explicitly states it is a notice of intent to award a Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESU) agreement to Portland State University, which indicates the agency is not seeking open competition from a broad range of applicants for this specific effort. CESU agreements are a mechanism the Department of the Interior often uses to partner with universities and other CESU network members to conduct research and applied studies supporting federal land management needs. The practical implication is that the opportunity is essentially targeted: the National Park Service planned to make a single award (Expected Awards: 1) with a maximum funding level (Award Ceiling) of $50,000.

In terms of timeline, the opportunity was created on May 23, 2017, with an original closing date of May 29, 2017. That short window is consistent with a notice of intent to award where the agency is documenting its planned action rather than conducting a lengthy, fully open solicitation. The award amount ceiling of $50,000 suggests a scoped project that may involve defined deliverables such as interview-based documentation, mapping of traditional use areas, archival and literature review, community meetings, and a written report suitable for National Park Service planning and cultural resource files, potentially accompanied by datasets or summaries that can be used internally while respecting confidentiality requirements.

Overall, this grant notice describes a small, single-award, cooperative research and cultural documentation effort intended to support Kobuk Valley National Park through a traditional use study centered on the communities of Kiana and Ambler. The National Park Service framed it within humanities/cultural affairs and positioned it as a CESU cooperative agreement to Portland State University, with up to $50,000 available, reflecting an applied, collaborative project designed to capture and organize traditional knowledge and use information that can help guide park management and strengthen understanding of long-standing Alaska Native connections to the park landscape.

• The Department of the Interior, National Park Service in the humanities (see cultural affairs in cfda) sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Kobuk Valley National Park Traditional Use Study, Native Villages of Kiana and Ambler" 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 May 23, 2017.
• Applicants must submit their applications by May 29, 2017 This is a notice of intent to award a CESU agreement to Portland State University under CFDA 15.945.. (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 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education.

Apply for P17AS00293

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