FY24 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management Montana/Dakotas (MT/DAK) Forest and Woodlands Resource Management | L24AS00119

Opportunity Information: Apply for L24AS00119

The FY24 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management Montana/Dakotas (MT/DAK) Forest and Woodlands Resource Management opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number L24AS00119, CFDA 15.233) is a discretionary federal funding notice from the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. It supports work tied to forest and woodland resource management priorities within BLM’s Montana/Dakotas jurisdiction, and it is issued as a cooperative agreement, meaning awardees should expect substantial involvement from BLM staff during project planning, execution, and reporting rather than a more hands-off grant structure.

Eligibility is limited to public and nonprofit-type entities and certain education and tribal organizations. Eligible applicants include state, county, and city/township governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; Native American tribal organizations (other than federally recognized tribal governments); public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; and nonprofits both with and without 501(c)(3) status (as long as they are not institutions of higher education). Individuals and for-profit organizations are explicitly ineligible under this notice, which is an important gatekeeping point for partnerships and subaward planning.

The notice also draws a clear boundary around youth hiring and internship-style crew proposals. It states that this particular program NOFO does not support entities hiring interns or crews under the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 (16 USC, Chapter 37, Subchapter II). The key practical takeaway is that organizations looking to do youth corps or internship hiring under that specific authority need to pursue the separate pathway identified by BLM: projects appropriate for eligible Youth Conservation Corps should be developed and submitted under NOFO 15.243, titled BLM Youth Conservation Opportunities on Public Lands, rather than under this forest and woodlands resource management opportunity. In other words, applicants should not build their project concept around PLC hiring mechanisms here, because it is outside the scope of this NOFO.

The opportunity also highlights how Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESUs) may fit into project delivery. CESUs are described as partnerships designed to promote and provide research, studies, assessments, monitoring, technical assistance, and educational services, which aligns well with many forest and woodland management needs such as resource assessments, monitoring protocols, applied research, or technical guidance tied to management actions. If the applicant is a CESU partner and the award is made under a formally negotiated Master CESU agreement that is consistent with CESU purposes, the indirect cost policy is capped: indirect costs are limited to no more than 17.5 percent of the indirect cost base recognized in the partner’s federally approved Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA). Applicants are instructed to state whether their proposal furthers CESU purposes and, if so, identify which CESU Network should be considered as the host, which affects how BLM routes and administers the agreement.

From the posted funding parameters, the award ceiling is $500,000. The listing indicates an expected awards field but does not provide a number in the source text shown, so prospective applicants should treat the count of awards as unspecified based on the excerpt provided. The opportunity was created on December 18, 2023, with an original closing date of February 20, 2024. Overall, the notice is best understood as a BLM MT/DAK cooperative agreement funding avenue for eligible governmental, educational, tribal, and nonprofit partners to carry out forest and woodland resource management-related work, while explicitly excluding individuals/for-profits and steering youth corps or intern hiring concepts to the separate BLM youth conservation funding announcement.

• The Bureau of Land Management in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY24 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management Montana/Dakotas (MT/DAK) Forest and Woodlands Resource Management" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.233.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-12-18.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-02-20. (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 $500,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education.

Apply for L24AS00119

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