BLM-(Montana), Fossils of the Dakota Badlands—The Pioneer Trails Regional Museum Collections FY16 | L15AS00236

Opportunity Information: Apply for L15AS00236

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) grant opportunity titled "BLM-(Montana), Fossils of the Dakota Badlands - The Pioneer Trails Regional Museum Collections FY16" (Funding Opportunity Number L15AS00236) supports a collections management and preservation project focused on federally owned paleontological specimens from North Dakota that are currently housed at the Pioneer Trails Regional Museum (PTRM) in Bowman, North Dakota. PTRM is described as a long-term BLM partner and operates under an active Memorandum of Understanding with the BLM Montana State Office for museum collection management. The central purpose of the project is to bring a large existing federal fossil collection up to Department of the Interior (DOI) curatorial standards through inventory, improved documentation, upgraded storage, and improved accessibility for research and public education.

A major starting point for the work is a comprehensive physical inventory of the BLM specimens stored at PTRM. Existing museum records indicate the collection exceeds 10,000 specimens, and the project is designed to ensure each item is properly counted, located, and reconciled with existing documentation. As specimens are inventoried, the museum will verify or correct key catalog information such as taxonomic identification, collection locality, collection date, and stratigraphic context when that information can be determined. This emphasis reflects a common problem in legacy collections: even when specimens are safe in storage, their research value can be limited if labels, provenance, or identifications are incomplete or inconsistent.

Another core element is modernizing the collection records from a basic Excel spreadsheet into a professional relational collections database. The announcement indicates PTRM and BLM will evaluate the Interior Collections Management System (ICMS) as well as other freely available systems, but whichever platform is chosen must be compatible with ICMS. In practice, this means the project is not just about moving data into a new program; it is also about structuring records in a standardized way, creating safeguards such as backups and protections, and ensuring the resulting dataset can be delivered to BLM as an authoritative set of catalog records. The project also places value on improved public and scientific access, with software selection partly guided by the ability to share appropriate information online. One option being explored is participation in the Paleo Portal, a web-based fossil collections data-sharing effort funded through the National Science Foundation, with the idea that connecting to an existing data-sharing network could extend the impact of the work beyond the museum.

The opportunity also targets substantial improvements in physical storage and long-term conservation conditions. The description notes that parts of the collection are stored in wooden cabinets, or in metal cabinets that still use wooden drawers, and that specimens are kept in non-archival boxes with labels on acidic paper. These conditions can create long-term preservation risks, including chemical degradation, dust exposure, and vulnerability to environmental fluctuations. The project proposes replacing as many wooden drawers and fixtures as possible with curatorial-grade metal cabinets, shelving, and drawers that better protect specimens and help meet DOI standards. In addition, the project includes acquiring archival storage supplies such as trays, jars, or vials, along with non-acidic labeling materials, to ensure the fossils are stored in stable, museum-grade housing suitable for long-term stewardship.

Staffing and workforce development are built into the project design. PTRM staff will lead the work, drawing on more than 20 years of experience and established curatorial and publication expertise. Volunteers from the museum's Paleontology Department will assist with curation and data entry, and the project explicitly includes youth engagement through supervised school student volunteers. The youth component is framed as hands-on training in basic museum curation techniques and conservation standards, providing practical exposure to professional museum operations. Beyond direct participation, the project anticipates indirect youth engagement later through improved online access to collection information, updated exhibits, and outreach programs that benefit from the newly organized and better-documented collection.

Several specific project objectives are listed, including: providing qualified personnel to complete the inventory; establishing and securing a computerized database system with backups; entering specimen data into the new system; conducting a physical condition assessment across all BLM specimens; providing professional oversight to ensure work meets high museum standards; performing specimen preparation and stabilization when needed (including use of chemical hardeners where appropriate); acquiring curatorial-grade storage containers for long-term conservation; replacing wooden cabinets, shelving, and drawers with museum-grade metal fixtures for improved protection and dust control; and making records accessible to qualified researchers and the public while protecting sensitive information in compliance with federal laws and regulations. That last point signals an important balance: the project aims to increase access, but must still safeguard restricted data such as sensitive locality information that could lead to resource damage or illegal collecting.

From an administrative standpoint, this is a discretionary funding opportunity issued by the Bureau of Land Management under CFDA 15.224, using a Cooperative Agreement as the funding instrument, and categorized under Natural Resources. The opportunity anticipated a single award, with an award ceiling of $100,000. The original closing date was November 20, 2015, and the opportunity was created on September 10, 2015. Eligibility is listed as unrestricted, meaning any applicant could apply, although the work described is closely tied to PTRM's existing role as the holding repository for these federal specimens and to its active MOU with BLM. The recipient is expected to contribute in-kind support by providing working space and basic hardware such as a computer, printer, and curation tools, complementing BLM support for materials and the broader cooperative effort to bring the collection into compliance and make it more useful for science and public benefit.

• The Bureau of Land Management in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "BLM-(Montana), Fossils of the Dakota Badlands—The Pioneer Trails Regional Museum Collections FY16" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.224.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2015-09-10.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2015-11-20. (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.

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