15.945: cooperative research and training programs of the national park system cesu network programming supports a comprehensive network of cooperative study units to facilitate cooperative…

The National Park Service (NPS) awarded a $197,500 Cooperative Agreement to the University of Pennsylvania under the Cooperative Research and Training Programs – Resources of the National Park System (CFDA 15.945) effective September 1, 2025, with completion targeted for September 30, 2027. The primary deliverable is a mandatory landscape report for Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park that will assess and provide management guidance for the park's historic resources, particularly the Civil War-era Bowman-Hite Farm. This report is required under the National Historic Preservation Act prior to any landscape treatment decisions and will support safe public access to this nationally significant historic asset while protecting and enhancing the landscape in accordance with Public Law 107-373.

The cooperative agreement leverages the CESU (Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units) Network to facilitate multi-disciplinary science and integrated information products. Beneficiaries include state and local governments, federally recognized Indian tribal governments, nonprofit organizations, nonprofit institutions of higher education, and the general public. The award demonstrates the NPS commitment to generating science-based management guidance through academic partnerships that inform resource stewardship decisions across the National Park System.

15.945: cooperative research and training programs of the national park system cesu network programming supports a comprehensive network of cooperative study units to facilitate cooperative research, technical assistance, education, and training to inform science-based management of the national park system. The study units facilitate multi-disciplinary science and integrated information products across multiple geographic regions of the national park system. This project will provide the NPS with a landscape report for cedar creek and belle grove national historical park. This report is mandatory prior to any decision regarding treatment of the parks landscape (per the national historic preservation act) and includes critical and actionable management guidance to facilitate safe public access to one of the parks pivotal civil war-ERA assets, bowman-hite farm, while also protecting and enhancing its nationally significant historic landscape in alignment with the parks enabling legislation (public law 107-373).beneficiaries include state and local governments, federally recognized indian tribal governments, public private nonprofit organizations, nonprofit institutions of higher education, and the general public.