FY25 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management Headquarters (HQ) Rangeland Resource Management | L25AS00170

FAQs: FY25 IIJA/IRA BLM Headquarters Rangeland Resource Management (Opportunity No. L25AS00170; CFDA 15.237)

What is this funding opportunity?

This is the FY25 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Headquarters Rangeland Resource Management funding opportunity (Opportunity No. L25AS00170; CFDA 15.237). It is a discretionary federal grant program administered by BLM and awarded as a cooperative agreement to support national-level rangeland management priorities.

What is the main purpose of the program?

The program funds projects that improve how rangelands are understood, managed, and sustained. The core focus is strengthening inventories, assessments, and evaluations of soil and vegetation conditions and overall land health, with a strong emphasis on monitoring data collection and analysis to support defensible, science-based management decisions.

What kinds of outcomes is BLM trying to achieve through this NOFO?

Projects are expected to support maintaining or achieving land health and productivity across large landscapes, increasing carbon sequestration, and building more resilient rangeland ecosystems that can better withstand and recover from drought, wildfire, invasive species, and other climate-related impacts.

Is the emphasis local, state, or national?

The emphasis is national-level impact. The opportunity prioritizes high-priority work that affects the rangeland program nationally, particularly work that crosses state boundaries rather than being limited to a single local site.

What types of projects are a good fit based on the examples provided?

Examples highlighted in the opportunity include: conservation and restoration actions designed to combat climate change; soils mapping efforts; development or refinement of ecological site descriptions; and mentoring, training, and educational programs that engage communities and stakeholders and build capacity for long-term stewardship.

Does this opportunity focus on monitoring and data?

Yes. A major emphasis is collecting and analyzing monitoring data to track whether rangelands are moving toward, meeting, or maintaining BLM land health standards, and to guide rangeland management with defensible, science-based information.

What does BLM mean by strengthening inventories, assessments, and evaluations?

Based on the NOFO description, this refers to improving the information base and methods used to understand soil and vegetation conditions and overall land health, including collecting, organizing, and analyzing monitoring data to support consistent evaluation against BLM land health standards.

Who is eligible to apply?

Eligibility is limited to specific non-federal applicant types: state, county, and city/township governments; special district governments; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized tribal governments; tribal organizations other than federally recognized governments; and nonprofit organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status.

Are individuals eligible to apply?

No. Individuals are explicitly ineligible under this NOFO.

Are for-profit organizations eligible to apply?

No. For-profit organizations are explicitly ineligible under this NOFO.

What type of award will be used?

BLM intends to make awards using a cooperative agreement. This typically indicates substantial involvement by BLM during the project, such as collaboration on technical direction, coordination across jurisdictions, or shared implementation and monitoring.

What does "substantial involvement" imply for applicants?

Because the instrument is a cooperative agreement, applicants should expect an active BLM role during performance of the project. The NOFO describes examples such as collaboration on technical direction, coordination across jurisdictions, and shared implementation and monitoring.

What is the maximum (ceiling) award amount?

The listed award ceiling is $10,000,000.

Does the award ceiling suggest what kinds of proposals may be competitive?

Yes. The ceiling suggests BLM may support very large, multi-state, or nationally significant efforts, particularly projects that produce broadly usable data products, methods, training frameworks, or cross-boundary monitoring and assessment approaches that can be scaled across BLM-managed rangelands.

When was the opportunity created and what is the application deadline?

The opportunity was created on December 11, 2024. The original application closing date is February 14, 2025.

Does this NOFO allow hiring interns or crews under the Public Lands Corps Act (PLC)?

No. This NOFO does not support projects that would involve hiring interns or crews under the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993.

If our project includes a youth corps or internship component, what should we do?

This NOFO indicates that Youth Conservation Corps or similar youth-focused work should be routed through a different funding opportunity instead: NOFO 15.243, BLM Youth Conservation Opportunities on Public Lands. Applicants should treat PLC-style hiring as a key compliance constraint and avoid building proposals around that type of hiring under this announcement.

What are CESUs and how are they relevant to this opportunity?

Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESUs) are partnership networks that support research, technical assistance, monitoring, education, and related services aligned with federal resource management needs. The NOFO includes specific guidance for applications submitted through CESUs.

Is there an indirect cost limitation for CESU awards?

Yes. If an award is made to a CESU partner under an existing, formally negotiated Master CESU agreement and the work is consistent with CESU purposes, indirect costs are capped at no more than 17.5 percent of the indirect cost base recognized in the partner's federally approved Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA).

What should a CESU-affiliated applicant include in the proposal?

Applicants are encouraged to state clearly whether their proposal advances the CESU mission and, if so, identify which CESU Network should be considered the host. This helps BLM route and administer the agreement appropriately.

Does the NOFO require work to be cross-boundary?

The NOFO prioritizes work that crosses state boundaries and affects the rangeland program nationally. While proposals can take different forms, the stated intent is to invest in activities with broad applicability rather than work limited to a single local site.

What program themes are emphasized besides land health monitoring?

The NOFO emphasizes improving land health and productivity at large landscape scales, carbon sequestration, resilience to climate-related stressors (including drought and wildfire), and addressing invasive species impacts, supported by science-based monitoring and analysis.

What is the relationship between this funding opportunity and BLM land health standards?

A major emphasis of funded work is to collect and analyze monitoring data that can show whether rangelands are moving toward, meeting, or maintaining BLM land health standards, and to use that information to guide management decisions.

What makes a project "national-level" in this context?

Based on the NOFO description, national-level projects are those that support rangeland program priorities broadly, such as approaches that cross state boundaries, generate widely usable methods or data products, create scalable monitoring and assessment approaches, or build training and capacity frameworks that can be applied across BLM-managed rangelands.

What CFDA number is associated with this opportunity?

The CFDA number listed is 15.237.

What is the opportunity number?

The opportunity number is L25AS00170.