Designing and Enhancing OUtdoor Exhibits to Interpret Florrissant Fossil Beds | P18AS00148

Opportunity Information: Apply for P18AS00148

Designing and Enhancing Outdoor Exhibits to Interpret Florissant Fossil Beds (Funding Opportunity Number P18AS00148) is a National Park Service cooperative agreement focused on updating and improving the outdoor interpretive signage along the trail system at Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. The core goal is to replace outdated trail exhibits with a coordinated set of twenty-seven (27) new outdoor interpretive waysides. These wayside panels are meant to do more than simply share facts; they are intended to function as practical, on-the-ground tools that help visitors understand where they are, how to recreate safely, and why the monument's paleontological and natural resources need protection.

The project is structured as a collaborative effort. Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument staff will work directly with Northern Arizona University (NAU) personnel and with local neighbor stakeholders. This partnership approach signals that the National Park Service is looking for an exhibit plan and layout that reflects both professional interpretation and design support from an academic partner, while also incorporating local perspectives from people and groups with a direct connection to the monument and surrounding community. Because the funding instrument is a cooperative agreement, the expectation is active involvement and substantial coordination between the National Park Service and the recipient during planning, design, and implementation decisions, rather than a hands-off grant relationship.

A major motivation behind the opportunity is that the current wayside exhibit panels, particularly those located at the beginning of trails, are missing key content that visitors need. Specifically, the existing signs do not adequately provide safety guidance, visitor orientation, or strong resource protection messaging. The new waysides are intended to fill those gaps by delivering clear orientation information (helping visitors navigate and understand trail context), encouraging safe recreation with a direct emphasis on visitor health and safety, and strengthening communication about rules and ethics related to sensitive resources. In practical terms, this includes more explicit and effective messages aimed at reducing vandalism and discouraging the theft of petrified wood and other fossils, which are ongoing concerns at sites where fossil resources are visible and vulnerable.

Beyond protection and safety, the waysides are also designed to improve the overall visitor experience and deepen public understanding of Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. Updated interpretation can create new opportunities for learning and enjoyment by connecting people to the monument's unique fossil beds, ecosystems, and scientific significance in a way that is engaging and accessible along the trails. In short, the project ties together three outcomes: protecting irreplaceable resources, helping visitors recreate safely and confidently, and enhancing interpretation so visitors leave with a clearer understanding of what makes the monument important.

Administratively, this is a discretionary funding opportunity issued by the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, under the Natural Resources funding activity category (CFDA 15.945). Eligible applicants are public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, which aligns with the identified partner role of a university. The opportunity was created on April 12, 2018, with an original closing date of April 21, 2018. The expected number of awards is one (1), with an award ceiling of $91,595, indicating the National Park Service anticipated funding a single project partner to complete the design and layout work for the full set of 27 waysides in a unified, consistent program across the monument's trails.

• The Department of the Interior, National Park Service in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Designing and Enhancing OUtdoor Exhibits to Interpret Florrissant Fossil Beds" 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 Apr 12, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Apr 21, 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 $91,595.00 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 P18AS00148

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