Integrating K-12 Curriculum, Science and Monitoring to Inform Wild Horse Public Education in Cape Lookout National Seashore | P17AS00626

Opportunity Information: Apply for P17AS00626

The grant opportunity titled "Integrating K-12 Curriculum, Science and Monitoring to Inform Wild Horse Public Education in Cape Lookout National Seashore" (Funding Opportunity Number P17AS00626) was offered by the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service as a discretionary funding opportunity. It was structured primarily as a cooperative agreement (with "other" also listed as a possible instrument type), which typically signals a project where the National Park Service expects to be substantially involved in guiding, coordinating, or collaborating on the work rather than simply issuing funds and stepping back. The opportunity falls under the Natural Resources activity category (CFDA 15.945) and was created on August 7, 2017, with an original closing date of August 17, 2017. The maximum award amount listed was $45,235.

At its core, the project was designed to strengthen how Cape Lookout National Seashore manages and communicates about its wild horses, especially in the context of visitor interactions and public education. The description emphasizes a combined approach that links on-the-ground science and monitoring with classroom-ready educational materials for upper elementary and middle school students. The intent is to make horse management more informed, more consistent, and easier to explain to the public, while also turning the park into a learning platform for K-12 educators and students. In practical terms, the project is meant to connect three pieces that often sit apart: field monitoring of the horse population, visitor-facing management concerns (how people behave around horses and how the park reduces negative interactions), and curriculum resources that help teachers bring real-world resource management into their classrooms.

The first objective focuses on improving and streamlining existing horse monitoring protocols at Cape Lookout National Seashore. This suggests the park already conducts monitoring but wants to refine it so data collection is more efficient, consistent, and useful for decision-making. Streamlining can include standardizing what gets recorded, how often monitoring happens, how observations are documented, and how information is compiled and interpreted. The underlying outcome is a clearer picture of horse behavior, population status, and patterns that matter for management, including where and when horses and visitors are most likely to come into contact. Better monitoring also supports stronger public communication, because the park can point to clearer evidence when explaining why certain rules, closures, or visitor guidelines exist.

The second objective is to create and deliver a Teacher Institute, described as a week-long field experience that immerses teachers in horse management. This component is aimed at building educator understanding of how wild horse management works in a national seashore setting, including the tradeoffs and constraints managers face. A field-based institute implies hands-on exposure to monitoring methods, observation of horse habitat use, discussion of human-wildlife interaction issues, and direct engagement with National Park Service staff and partner experts. The likely result is teachers who are better equipped to translate a complex, locally relevant management topic into classroom learning, and who can communicate to students the role of science, stewardship, and public responsibility in protecting both wildlife and visitors.

The third objective is to generate lesson plans for upper elementary and middle school students focused on wild horse management. This deliverable turns the monitoring and teacher training into concrete educational products that can be used in schools. The lesson plans are meant to connect park resource management with age-appropriate instruction, potentially incorporating themes like ecosystems and habitat, animal behavior, carrying capacity and population dynamics, human impacts, data collection and interpretation, and the civic side of conservation (rules, ethics, and public lands decision-making). Because the opportunity explicitly ties curriculum to monitoring and visitor interaction management, the lesson content would be expected to reflect real conditions at Cape Lookout National Seashore and present management as an evidence-based process rather than a purely emotional or symbolic issue.

Eligibility was limited primarily to nonprofit organizations with IRS-recognized 501(c)(3) status other than institutions of higher education, with an additional "others" category noted as dependent on clarifications in the full eligibility text. That framing indicates the National Park Service was seeking an education- and science-capable partner, such as a conservation nonprofit, friends group, interpretive association, or similar organization with the capacity to collaborate closely with the park on both technical monitoring improvements and educator-focused program delivery. Overall, the opportunity is best understood as a targeted, place-based effort to reduce problematic horse-visitor interactions through better monitoring and clearer public understanding, while simultaneously building durable K-12 educational resources and teacher expertise grounded in real management work at Cape Lookout National Seashore.

• The Department of the Interior, National Park Service in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Integrating K-12 Curriculum, Science and Monitoring to Inform Wild Horse Public Education in Cape Lookout National Seashore" 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 Aug 07, 2017.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 17, 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 $45,235.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

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