P17AS00721.pdf

National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE: NOTICE OF INTENT TO AWARD

This announcement is not a request for applications.

This announcement is to provide public notice of the National Park Service’s intention to award a task agreement under a previously competed or single source justified master cooperative agreement.

ABSTRACT

Funding Announcement Number P17AS00721 Project Title Mississippi River Delta Archeological

Assessment, Mitigation, and Consultation Recipient Northwestern State University of Louisiana Anticipated Federal Funding $88,557.52 Non-federal Cost Share None Anticipated Period of Performance 09/15/2017 – 12/31/2018 Award Instrument Cooperative Agreement Statutory Authority 54 U.S.C. §101702(a) CFDA # and Title 15.923 - National Center for Preservation

Technology and Training Single Source Justification Criteria Unique Qualifications Point of Contact Steve Livingston – steve_livingston@nps.gov

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

The archeological record of more than a millennium of human habitation in the Mississippi River Delta (MRD) is rapidly disappearing as a result of coastal erosion and subsidence, exacerbated by storm surges, anthropogenic climate change, sea-level rise, and alterations of coastal landforms and hydrology. Among the most prominent and still-intact sites are the earthen mounds and shell middens constructed by indigenous peoples during the Late Woodland and Mississippi periods (400-1700 CE).

These sites are eligible for listing on the National Register and culturally affiliated with modern-day indigenous groups, such as the Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana.

The archeological record that is being destroyed contains unparalleled and untapped sources of information on long-term human habitation in the MRD. The goals of the proposed research are to (1) advance scientific knowledge of long-term historical ecology, interaction and resilience in the MRD and north-central Gulf Coast, (2) establish a comprehensive program of environmental assessment, and (3) provide for alternative mitigation of the effects of coastal erosion, subsidence and sea-level rise. Research objectives involve data-collection at four endangered earthen-mounds, and consultation with affiliated tribes.

STATEMENT OF WORK

Selection of four sites for data collection and implementation of a research design for alternative mitigation will be based on consultations and partnerships with the LA SHPO, federal and state agencies, and culturally-affiliated tribes.

Students will gain experience with historic preservation, including the disciplines in which NCPTT works: historic architecture, historic landscapes, materials conservation and archeology.

This project is jointly funded by NPS SERO’s Lower Mississippi Delta Initiative and NCPTT. This project also involves the work of Archeologists at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (ULL), but ULL receives no funding from the agreement.

RECIPIENT AGREES TO:

1. NSU will provide staff support to NCPTT in order to conduct Mississippi River Delta Archeology assessment, mitigation, and consultation.

2. Reimbursement on an actual cost basis will be provided for travel undertaken by NSU staff supporting NCPTT in accordance with the attached budget.

3. NSU will provide an archeology research assistant and Archeology internships from their wages-of-labor hiring system.

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE AGREES TO:

1. NPS will provide staff support to NSU in order to manage the project and guide the research assistant and interns to assessment, mitigation and consultation.

2. Reimbursement on an actual cost basis will be provided for travel undertaken by NSU staff supporting NCPTT, as specified in Article IIIA2 in accordance with the attached budget.

3. NPS will provide full funding (100%) for an archeology research assistant and archeology student internships to undertake this project in accordance with the attached budget. The interns will be undergraduate or graduate students interested in developing preservation-related skills, as provided by NSU in Article IIIA3. NCPTT will choose candidates for the internship positions from applicants following state and federal guidelines.