Upper San Pedro Grasslands Watershed Restoration Methods | P19AS00463

Opportunity Information: Apply for P19AS00463

The "Upper San Pedro Grasslands Watershed Restoration Methods" opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number P19AS00463) is a National Park Service cooperative agreement focused on developing and applying practical restoration approaches for degraded grassland and savanna watersheds along the U.S.-Mexico border. The work centers on two connected protected areas within the upper San Pedro transboundary watershed: Coronado National Memorial in Arizona and Rancho Los Fresnos in Sonora, Mexico (managed by Naturalia, A.C.). These sites sit within the semiarid grasslands and savanna of the Huachuca Mountains Grassland Valley Complex, a landscape identified through binational scientific analysis as an exceptionally important conservation area because of its high biological diversity and uniqueness. The broader context includes the Sonoita grasslands priority conservation area, which overlaps this complex and highlights the region as a key target for conservation and restoration action.

The grant is motivated by a clear ecological problem statement: the grassland system has moved away from its native condition due to multiple long-running and intensifying stressors tied to human land use and regional change. The opportunity description points to intensive livestock grazing, disrupted fire regimes, altered hydrology and watershed function, invasive plant species, population growth, and climate change as major drivers of degradation. On top of these broad pressures, the border zone faces a distinct and expanding disturbance footprint tied to unauthorized border crossings and the physical security measures used to deter or respond to them. Together, these activities have created growing areas of soil disturbance and erosion. If those impacts are not addressed, the long-term ecological integrity of the grassland-savanna bajada (the sloping alluvial apron at the base of the southern Huachuca Mountains) is expected to continue to decline, affecting habitat quality, watershed stability, and the overall resilience of the system.

In practical terms, the opportunity is about watershed restoration methods, meaning it is aimed at identifying, refining, and implementing techniques that reduce erosion, stabilize soils, and restore more natural hydrologic and ecological processes in disturbed grassland terrain. While the notice does not list specific techniques, the emphasis on erosion and watershed function implies work that could include assessment of disturbance patterns, prioritization of treatment areas, and on-the-ground restoration actions designed to slow runoff, capture sediment, and help native vegetation re-establish. Because this is a cooperative agreement, the National Park Service would typically expect substantial involvement in project coordination, technical guidance, data sharing, or joint implementation rather than a purely hands-off grant relationship.

Administratively, the opportunity was offered by the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, under CFDA 15.945, as a discretionary funding opportunity. Eligibility was limited to nonprofits with IRS 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education). The posting was created on August 1, 2019, with an original closing date of August 10, 2019, indicating a short application window. Funding was relatively small and targeted, with an award ceiling of $40,142 and an expectation of a single award, suggesting a focused pilot or methods-oriented project rather than a large multi-year construction effort. The overall intent is to protect and restore a high-priority binational grassland conservation landscape by addressing erosion and disturbance in a sensitive borderland watershed shared by the U.S. and Mexico.

• The Department of the Interior, National Park Service in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Upper San Pedro Grasslands Watershed Restoration Methods" 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 01, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 10, 2019. (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 $40,142.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education.

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