Condition Assessment and Intensive Survey for Lake Lucero Site, LA 21162 | P17AS00375

Opportunity Information: Apply for P17AS00375

The Condition Assessment and Intensive Survey for Lake Lucero Site, LA 21162 (Funding Opportunity Number P17AS00375) is a National Park Service cooperative agreement funding opportunity focused on urgently documenting and evaluating an archaeologically significant area at White Sands National Monument in New Mexico. The project site sits along the monument's western edge above the Lake Lucero playa, within sediments tied to Pleistocene Lake Otero. Although the location has been visited many times over the last several decades by professional archaeologists as well as organized avocational tours, the monument does not yet have the kind of complete, systematic information it needs to confidently manage the site. The core purpose of the grant is to support a thorough condition assessment and intensive cultural resources survey so the site can be properly mapped, characterized, and protected.

The opportunity is driven by the fact that Lake Lucero has clear research and management importance, but its full spatial extent has not been pinned down and its cultural features have not been comprehensively identified. A recent visit raised the stakes by documenting adobe room blocks visible on the ground surface, suggesting substantial architectural remains. In addition, multiple areas with extremely high artifact density were observed, which is often a strong indicator that significant deposits and features may be buried below the surface. The announcement specifically notes the likelihood of pithouses, thermal features, trash middens, and even human burials. Those possibilities create both an opportunity for scientific understanding and an immediate need for careful management planning, because buried features and potential burials can be vulnerable to unintentional damage, unauthorized collecting, and natural erosion if the monument lacks solid baseline documentation.

From a practical standpoint, the funded work is meant to generate the systematic survey data that White Sands National Monument needs for stewardship: defining site boundaries, identifying and recording cultural features, evaluating current condition and threats, and producing information that can guide future protection measures. Because it is framed as an "intensive survey" paired with a "condition assessment," the expectation is not just a quick reconnaissance, but a methodical effort that results in a defensible inventory of what is present on and near the surface, where the highest potential for buried features exists, and what risks to those resources are most pressing. The project is positioned as time-sensitive, with the notice stating that a systematic survey is "urgently needed" to allow the park to manage and protect the site appropriately.

Administratively, this was offered as a discretionary cooperative agreement through the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, under CFDA 15.945. Eligibility was limited to public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, which signals that the NPS was seeking an academic partner capable of professional cultural resource survey work, analysis, and reporting, and also indicates collaboration rather than a simple vendor relationship (a typical implication of cooperative agreements, where the federal agency expects substantial involvement during the project). The opportunity anticipated a single award, with a stated award ceiling of $59,055. Key dates in the posting show it was created on June 15, 2017, with an original closing date of June 24, 2017, reflecting a short application window.

In summary, this grant opportunity is essentially about establishing a reliable, park-ready baseline record for the Lake Lucero Site (LA 21162): mapping and documenting its extent, identifying both visible architecture like adobe room blocks and areas suggesting buried features, and assessing overall condition so White Sands National Monument can make informed decisions about preservation, protection, and any future research at a site that appears to be far more extensive and complex than earlier, non-systematic visits had fully captured.

• The Department of the Interior, National Park Service in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Condition Assessment and Intensive Survey for Lake Lucero Site, LA 21162" 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 Jun 15, 2017.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 24, 2017. (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 $59,055.00 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 P17AS00375

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