Inventory and Long-Term Curation | BOR UC 16 N005

Opportunity Information: Apply for BOR UC 16 N005

The grant opportunity titled "Inventory and Long-Term Curation" (Funding Opportunity Number BOR UC 16 N005) is a discretionary grant offered by the Bureau of Reclamation, Upper Colorado Region. It focuses on ensuring that federally owned archeological and historical collections created through Reclamation projects are properly inventoried and curated over the long term in compliance with federal standards. The funding activity category is listed under Humanities (CFDA 15.511), reflecting that the work centers on stewardship of cultural heritage materials rather than construction or engineering.

A central point of the opportunity is compliance with 36 CFR 79, the federal regulation that sets requirements for the curation of federally owned and administered archeological collections. Under these rules, collections must be housed and managed by a qualified repository that meets standards established by the Department of the Interior or by the American Association of Museums. The opportunity highlights the University of Wyoming Archaeological Repository (UWAR) as a repository that meets these standards, making it an appropriate and compliant home for the collections referenced in the notice.

The collections in question trace back to major mid-20th century federal water infrastructure development in the Colorado River Basin, specifically the Colorado River Storage Project dams built in the 1950s and 1960s. Before those dams were constructed, UWAR was hired by the Secretary of the Interior through the National Park Service to generate and assemble the archeological and historical collections associated with the affected areas. As a result, large bodies of objects and records were created during this pre-construction period and then deposited with UWAR in the 1950s. The original agreements between the United States (via the National Park Service) and UWAR included a stipulation that UWAR would retain the collection in perpetuity, underscoring the long-term responsibility to care for the materials, maintain their integrity, and ensure continued accessibility and accountability.

From an operational standpoint, the opportunity is aimed at supporting the work required to manage these legacy collections responsibly, with an emphasis on inventory and long-term curation. Inventory implies establishing or updating detailed, systematic documentation of what the collection contains and linking objects to their associated records so that items can be tracked, safeguarded, and used for research or public benefit appropriately. Long-term curation points to the ongoing professional practices needed to preserve and manage these materials over decades, such as maintaining suitable storage environments, organizing and stabilizing records, ensuring provenance and context information is preserved, and meeting the documentation, security, and access expectations consistent with 36 CFR 79 and museum-quality standards.

The funding is structured as a grant with an award ceiling of $100,000, with one award expected. Eligible applicants are limited to public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, which aligns with the described role of UWAR and similar university-based repositories that operate to professional curation standards. The opportunity was created on January 21, 2016, and the original closing date for applications was February 4, 2016, indicating a relatively short application window typical of targeted, project-specific federal assistance.

Overall, the opportunity is best understood as a focused federal investment in cultural resource stewardship: it supports a qualified higher-education repository in meeting federal curation requirements for significant archeological and historical collections generated through major Reclamation undertakings, with the explicit aim of strengthening inventory control and ensuring compliant, perpetual care consistent with longstanding federal-repository agreements.

• The Bureau of Reclamation in the humanities sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Inventory and Long-Term Curation" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.511.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2016-01-21.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2016-02-04. (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: Public and State controlled institutions of higher education.

Apply for BOR UC 16 N005

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