FY24 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management MT/DAK Invasive and Noxious Plant Management Program | L24AS00079

Opportunity Information: Apply for L24AS00079

The FY24 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Montana/Dakotas Invasive and Noxious Plant Management Program is a discretionary federal funding opportunity offered by the U.S. Department of the Interior through BLM. It is designed to support projects in Montana and the Dakotas that address invasive and noxious plant issues as part of BLM land stewardship and natural resource management priorities. Funding is provided through a cooperative agreement, which generally means BLM expects to have substantial involvement in the project during implementation (for example, coordination, technical input, or shared planning) rather than simply issuing a grant and stepping back.

The opportunity is identified as Funding Opportunity Number L24AS00079 and is associated with CFDA/Assistance Listing 15.230. The program focuses on natural resources work, specifically invasive and noxious plant management, which typically includes activities like prevention, early detection and rapid response, inventory and mapping, treatment and control, monitoring, restoration support following treatment, and related outreach or technical assistance. While the notice text provided does not list specific project types in detail, it clearly situates the program within BLM efforts to manage invasive species impacts on public lands and associated resources.

Eligibility is limited to public and nonprofit-oriented entities and certain educational institutions. Eligible applicants include state, county, city/township, and 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; other tribal organizations; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; and nonprofit organizations both with and without 501(c)(3) status. Individuals and for-profit organizations are explicitly ineligible to apply under this notice of funding opportunity (NOFO), so proposals must come from eligible governmental, tribal, nonprofit, or higher education partners.

Two important restrictions are highlighted. First, this NOFO does not support applicants proposing to hire interns or crews under the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993. The notice explains that the Public Lands Corps Act (16 USC, Chapter 37, Subchapter II) is the legislative authority that allows BLM to "hire" interns under that specific framework, and this particular invasive plant management NOFO is not the vehicle for that. As a result, youth-focused organizations that want to propose projects built around youth crews or internships under that authority are directed instead to a separate funding opportunity: NOFO 15.243, BLM Youth Conservation Opportunities on Public Lands. In practical terms, applicants should avoid framing their budgets and staffing plans around Public Lands Corps intern/crew hiring under this program and should route that kind of proposal to the youth conservation NOFO instead.

Second, the NOFO includes guidance for applicants that are part of a Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESU) network. CESUs are partnerships intended to support research, studies, assessments, monitoring, technical assistance, and education. If a cooperative agreement is awarded to a CESU partner under a formally negotiated Master CESU agreement, and the project is consistent with CESU purposes, the indirect cost recovery is capped. Specifically, 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 expected to state whether their proposal advances CESU purposes and, if it does, to indicate which CESU Network should be considered as the host. This matters for budgeting and for how BLM structures the agreement.

From a funding standpoint, the opportunity lists an award ceiling of $1,000,000, indicating that a single award could be as large as that amount, depending on BLM priorities and available funding. The notice does not provide a floor in the information shared here, and the expected number of awards is not specified in the source data excerpt. The original application closing date is March 18, 2024, and the opportunity was created on January 16, 2024, which places it within the FY24 cycle and ties it to IIJA/IRA funding context (commonly referring to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act).

Overall, this NOFO is best understood as a cooperative agreement opportunity for qualified governmental, tribal, nonprofit, and academic partners to work with BLM Montana/Dakotas on invasive and noxious plant management activities, with clear exclusions for individuals and for-profit applicants, a clear boundary separating it from Public Lands Corps youth internship/crew hiring proposals, and specific indirect cost limitations for CESU-based cooperative agreements.

• 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 Invasive and Noxious Plant Management Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.230.
• 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 $1,000,000.00 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 L24AS00079

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: