BLM-New Mexico Chaco Frontier Communiies Project (Cooperative Ecosystems Studies Unit) CESU-(Challenge Cost Share) CCS | L16AS00065

Opportunity Information: Apply for L16AS00065

The BLM-New Mexico Chaco Frontier Communities Project is a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) funding opportunity focused on continued archaeological and cultural resources research in western Catron County, New Mexico. Issued as a discretionary cooperative agreement (Funding Opportunity Number L16AS00065; CFDA 15.238) under the Science and Technology/Research and Development category, the project builds on a 12-year partnership with the BLM Socorro Field Office. The work centers on understanding human settlement patterns and interactions in a culturally complex "frontier" region where different prehistoric cultural groups met and influenced one another, with particular emphasis on Chaco-era "great house" community landscapes.

The opportunity supports ongoing cultural resource inventory and targeted excavation at significant sites, especially the greathouse communities associated with Cox Ranch, Cerro Pomo, and Largo pueblos. Past efforts under this long-running project have already produced more than 13,000 acres of cultural resource inventory and multiple seasons of excavation, indicating that the funded work is meant to extend an established research program rather than start a new one. The scientific aim is to generate high-quality data that improves interpretation of settlement organization, community interaction, and broader regional dynamics, while also producing results that can be communicated beyond academia to the public and other stakeholders.

A key feature of the project is its training and workforce-development value. The description highlights that it provides hands-on opportunities for students to strengthen field and research skills, and that prior work has yielded materials and datasets used in numerous theses and dissertations. In practice, that implies the award will likely support supervised fieldwork, documentation, analysis, and reporting that contributes both to cultural resource management needs and to academic research outcomes.

Administratively, the award is to be made through a Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU) mechanism using a Challenge Cost Share approach, meaning the project is structured for substantial collaboration between BLM and the recipient rather than a hands-off grant. The indirect cost rate is specified as 17.5 percent under the CESU framework, which is an important budgeting constraint for applicants. The opportunity listed an award ceiling of $100,000, with BLM expecting to make one award. Eligibility is described as unrestricted, suggesting that any qualified entity able to perform the work and meet federal assistance requirements could apply. The notice was created on March 24, 2016, with an original closing date of June 23, 2016.

• The Bureau of Land Management in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "BLM-New Mexico Chaco Frontier Communiies Project (Cooperative Ecosystems Studies Unit) CESU-(Challenge Cost Share) CCS" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.238.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2016-03-24.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2016-06-23. (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 $100,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted.

Apply for L16AS00065

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