Southwest Border Resource Protection Program | P19AS00057

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) - Southwest Border Resource Protection Program (SWBRPP)

What is the Southwest Border Resource Protection Program (SWBRPP)?

The Southwest Border Resource Protection Program (SWBRPP) is a National Park Service (NPS) funding opportunity run out of the NPS Intermountain Regional Office in Denver. It supports projects that strengthen stewardship of natural and cultural resources along (or near) the US-Mexico international border.

What is the main purpose of this funding opportunity?

The purpose is to fund projects that help parks understand, respond to, and communicate documented, on-the-ground impacts affecting border-area parks and other desert Southwest park units. The opportunity also encourages international cooperation, improved public interpretation, and credible scientific research.

What types of impacts is the program designed to address?

The program is framed around landscape-scale resource impacts documented in border-area parks, including damage associated with illegal cross-border activity. Examples include thousands of miles of unauthorized roads and trails, disruption of ecological processes and wildlife movement, vandalism of historic places, and looting of archeological sites.

Who administers SWBRPP?

The program is administered by the Department of the Interior, National Park Service, and is run out of the NPS Intermountain Regional Office in Denver.

Is this a grant or a cooperative agreement?

Funding is provided through cooperative agreements. This means the National Park Service expects to be actively involved in shaping and overseeing the work rather than issuing a hands-off award.

What does it mean that NPS will be "actively involved"?

Based on the opportunity description, NPS participation is part of the funding model. Projects are expected to be developed and implemented with direct engagement from NPS, including collaborative development of the work plan and budget for each selected project.

How are awards structured?

Each selected project is authorized as a separate award, and each award has its own work plan and budget developed collaboratively between NPS and the partner organization.

Who is eligible to apply?

The opportunity is open to NPS units and a broad mix of partners, including educational institutions, nonprofit organizations, tribes, and local or state agencies.

Do applicants need to work with a specific National Park Service unit?

Applicants are strongly encouraged to build their proposals in close coordination with at least one of ten named NPS units near the border. This signals that projects should be grounded in real park priorities and implemented with direct park engagement.

Which parks and park units are specifically highlighted for collaboration?

The opportunity highlights collaboration with these ten units: Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument; Big Bend National Park; Amistad National Recreation Area; Palo Alto National Historic Site; Padre Island National Seashore; Saguaro National Park; Tumacacori National Historical Park; Chamizal National Memorial; Coronado National Memorial; and Chiricahua National Monument.

What kinds of work does SWBRPP fund?

The program supports three broad categories of work: (1) research and documentation, (2) protection and preservation, and (3) education, interpretation, and information sharing.

What is included under the "research and documentation" category?

Research and documentation can address both cultural and natural resources. Cultural examples include identifying, researching, and evaluating archeological and historic sites, and preparing nominations for the National Register of Historic Places or National Historic Landmark status. Natural resource examples include wildlife habitat management, inventory and monitoring of invasive species, studying climate change impacts on endangered species, and assessing effects of border-related activities on threatened and endangered species.

What is included under the "protection and preservation" category?

Protection and preservation projects may address cultural resources by stabilizing, rehabilitating, or restoring historic structures, archeological sites, trails, and cultural landscapes, and by conserving museum or archival collections. For natural resources, projects can include reestablishing natural processes and ecological systems, monitoring resource damage associated with human development, protecting threatened and endangered species, developing integrated pest management plans, and restoring native vegetation and wildlife habitats (including removal of exotic species).

What is included under the "education/interpretation/information sharing" category?

Education and interpretation activities emphasize building shared capacity and improving communication. Examples include student internship programs, workshops and training events, seminars and symposia, binational conferences, informational network gatherings, and development of interpretive materials and public-facing programs.

Is the program focused only on cultural resources or only on natural resources?

It supports both natural and cultural resource stewardship. The opportunity explicitly includes examples and project types for each, and is framed around strengthening stewardship of shared resources in borderland settings.

Does the opportunity encourage international cooperation?

Yes. The opportunity states that it encourages international cooperation, including through education and information-sharing efforts such as binational conferences and related gatherings.

What is the geographic focus of SWBRPP?

The program focuses on projects along (or near) the US-Mexico international border, particularly in connection with the ten named NPS units. The opportunity describes borderland settings that can include desert ecosystems, mountain "sky island" habitats, river corridors, coastal resources, and historically significant cultural sites.

What is the funding opportunity number?

The Funding Opportunity Number listed is P19AS00057.

What is the official funding opportunity title?

The title is "Southwest Border Resource Protection Program."

Which federal agency and department sponsor this opportunity?

The opportunity is administered by the Department of the Interior, National Park Service.

Is this considered a discretionary opportunity?

Yes. The published opportunity details categorize it as a discretionary opportunity.

What is the funding instrument used?

The funding instrument identified is a cooperative agreement.

What is the activity category?

The activity category listed is natural resources.

What CFDA number is associated with this opportunity?

The CFDA number listed is 15.954.

What is the maximum award amount (award ceiling)?

The posting showed an award ceiling of $50,000.

How many awards were expected?

The opportunity indicated an expectation of around 7 awards.

When was the opportunity posted?

The posting date was March 13, 2019.

What was the closing date listed in the posting?

The original closing date was April 15, 2019.

Does the opportunity indicate that border impacts are isolated or widespread?

The opportunity emphasizes that impacts are not isolated incidents. It characterizes them as landscape-scale problems affecting parks and resources across borderland areas.

What is the practical goal of funding projects under SWBRPP?

In practical terms, the program aims to fund work that helps parks understand documented impacts, respond to them through protection and preservation actions, and communicate the significance of shared natural and cultural resources to the public.