FY24 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management Oregon/Washington (ORWA) Wildlife Program | L24AS00046

Opportunity Information: Apply for L24AS00046

The FY24 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management Oregon/Washington (ORWA) Wildlife Program (Funding Opportunity Number L24AS00046; CFDA 15.247) is a discretionary federal funding opportunity from the Bureau of Land Management that will be awarded through cooperative agreements. In practical terms, that means BLM expects to have substantial involvement in the funded work rather than simply issuing a pass-through grant with minimal federal engagement. The program sits in the natural resources funding category and is intended to support wildlife-related work tied to BLM priorities in Oregon and Washington, using funding associated with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The posted ceiling for individual awards is up to $1,500,000, indicating the agency is willing to fund relatively large projects when the scope and outcomes match BLM needs and the cooperative agreement structure.

Eligibility is broad across public and nonprofit sectors, but with clear exclusions. Eligible applicants include state, county, and city or township governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Tribal governments; other Tribal organizations (including those that are not federally recognized governments); public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; and nonprofits both with and without 501(c)(3) status (so long as they are not institutions of higher education when applying under the nonprofit category). However, individuals and for-profit organizations are explicitly ineligible to apply under this notice of funding opportunity (NOFO). This matters for implementation planning because it restricts who can serve as the prime recipient, even if contractors or collaborators may still play roles consistent with federal assistance rules and the terms BLM sets for the cooperative agreement.

A major operational constraint in this NOFO is that it does not support projects framed around hiring interns or crews under the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993. The notice is explicit that the Public Lands Corps Act (16 USC, Chapter 37, Subchapter II) is the only legislative authority that allows BLM to "hire" interns under that framework, and as a result, youth internship or crew-based proposals that rely on that authority are not appropriate for this funding opportunity. Instead, Youth Conservation Corps or similar eligible youth-focused entities that want to pursue that kind of work are directed to a different funding announcement: NOFO 15.243, titled BLM Youth Conservation Opportunities on Public Lands. In other words, this ORWA Wildlife Program NOFO is meant to fund wildlife program work itself, not to function as a vehicle for Public Lands Corps-style youth hiring models.

The NOFO also highlights an important pathway for universities and research partners through the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESU) program. CESUs are described as partnerships designed to promote and provide research, studies, assessments, monitoring, technical assistance, and educational services, which aligns closely with typical wildlife program needs such as habitat assessments, population monitoring, data collection, and applied research to inform management decisions. If an award is made to a CESU partner under a formally negotiated Master CESU agreement and the work is consistent with the CESU purpose, indirect costs are capped at no more than 17.5 percent of the indirect cost base that is recognized in the partner's federally approved Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA). This is a meaningful budgeting condition because it can reduce recoverable indirect costs compared to an institution's full negotiated rate, and applicants should plan budgets accordingly.

Finally, 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. That requirement signals that BLM is actively managing how certain assistance awards are routed and administered under CESU frameworks when appropriate. Key timeline details from the posting include an original closing date of February 29, 2024, and a creation date of October 31, 2023. Overall, this opportunity is best understood as a BLM Oregon/Washington wildlife-focused cooperative agreement program, with a relatively high potential award ceiling, wide public/nonprofit eligibility, strict ineligibility for individuals and for-profits, no support for Public Lands Corps intern/crew hiring under this NOFO, and specific indirect cost limitations and identification requirements for proposals submitted under the CESU partnership structure.

• The Bureau of Land Management in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY24 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management Oregon/Washington (ORWA) Wildlife Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.247.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-10-31.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-02-29. (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 $1,500,000.00 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.

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