FY24 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management MT/DAK Plant Conservation and Restoration Management | L24AS00085

Opportunity Information: Apply for L24AS00085

The FY24 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management (BLM) MT/DAK Plant Conservation and Restoration Management opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number L24AS00085; CFDA 15.245) is a discretionary funding program administered by BLM to support plant-focused conservation and restoration work connected to BLM priorities in the Montana/Dakotas area. Funding is offered through cooperative agreements, which typically means BLM expects substantial involvement during the project (for example, coordination on planning, field implementation, data standards, reporting, or adaptive management) rather than simply issuing a grant with minimal federal interaction. The program sits in the natural resources funding category and is positioned as a vehicle for on-the-ground restoration and plant conservation management activities consistent with BLM land stewardship goals and, as indicated by the title, aligns with FY24 resources associated with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and/or the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

Eligibility is broad across public and nonprofit sectors, but explicitly excludes individuals and for-profit organizations. Eligible applicant types 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 that are not federally recognized governments; public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; and nonprofits (both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3), as long as they are not institutions of higher education). In practical terms, this makes the program accessible to agencies, universities, tribes, and nonprofit conservation partners that can plan and carry out plant conservation or restoration work in coordination with BLM.

A key restriction in the notice is that this NOFO does not support projects that involve hiring interns or crews under the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993. The notice stresses that the Public Lands Corps Act is the legislative authority used for hiring interns under that framework, and that youth/crew-based projects of that kind must instead be pursued under a different BLM funding opportunity: NOFO 15.243, titled BLM Youth Conservation Opportunities on Public Lands. This matters for project design because proposals should not be built around a staffing model that depends on Public Lands Corps interns or similar youth corps hiring authorities under this specific announcement. Applicants wanting to incorporate youth corps components need to route that work through the correct BLM youth-focused NOFO rather than trying to fit it into this plant conservation and restoration management program.

The announcement also highlights the role of Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESUs). CESUs are described as partnership networks intended to promote and support research, studies, assessments, monitoring, technical assistance, and educational services that align with federal land management needs. If an award is made to a CESU partner under a formally negotiated Master CESU agreement, and the work is consistent with CESU purposes, the indirect cost recovery 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 the purpose of the CESU program and, if it does, to identify which CESU Network should be considered as the host. In other words, organizations that are part of a CESU should pay close attention to the indirect cost limitation and should clearly frame the work as CESU-aligned (research, monitoring, technical assistance, education) if they want it handled within that partnership structure.

From an award structure standpoint, the funding instrument is a cooperative agreement, and the listed award ceiling is $2,000,000. The opportunity record shows an original closing date of March 18, 2024, and a creation date of January 16, 2024. While the summary information does not list an expected number of awards, the ceiling suggests BLM may fund one or multiple substantial projects up to that maximum, depending on available funds and proposal quality. Overall, the opportunity is best understood as a BLM-administered funding route for qualified public, tribal, academic, and nonprofit partners to carry out plant conservation, restoration, monitoring, and related management support work in Montana and the Dakotas, with clear guardrails around ineligible applicant types (no individuals or for-profits), youth/intern hiring authorities (use the youth-focused NOFO instead), and indirect cost treatment for CESU-based cooperative agreements (17.5 percent cap on the applicable base under the NICRA framework).

• The Bureau of Land Management in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY24 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management MT/DAK Plant Conservation and Restoration Management" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.245.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-01-16.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-03-18. (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 $2,000,000.00 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 L24AS00085

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