IRA Bureau of Land Management Headquarters (HQ) Threatened and Endangered Species Program | L23AS00309

Opportunity Information: Apply for L23AS00309

The IRA Bureau of Land Management Headquarters (HQ) Threatened and Endangered Species Program (Funding Opportunity Number L23AS00309) is a discretionary federal funding opportunity administered by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM). It is offered through a cooperative agreement, which usually means BLM expects to be substantially involved during the project period rather than simply issuing a grant and stepping back. The funding activity category is Natural Resources, and it is listed under CFDA number 15.246. As the title suggests, the program is focused on threatened and endangered species work connected to BLM-managed lands and BLM priorities, with the HQ program office serving as the lead for this opportunity.

Eligibility is limited to public and nonprofit entities and certain education and tribal organizations. Eligible applicants include state, county, and local governments (including cities or townships), 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, and tribal organizations that are not federally recognized tribal governments. Both 501(c)(3) nonprofits and nonprofits without 501(c)(3) status are eligible, and public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities are also listed as eligible. Individuals and for-profit organizations are explicitly ineligible, which is an important restriction for applicants who might otherwise partner with consultants or private firms; private companies may potentially play a role as contractors or subrecipients depending on the agreement structure, but they cannot be the applicant of record for an award under this particular notice of funding opportunity (NOFO).

A key limitation in the NOFO is that it does not support entities hiring interns or crews under the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993. The notice emphasizes that the Public Lands Corps Act (16 USC, Chapter 37, Subchapter II - Public Lands Corps) is the only legislative authority that allows BLM to "hire" interns under that authority. Because of that, any applicant looking to propose youth internship or crew-based work under Public Lands Corps should not use this NOFO. Instead, eligible Youth Conservation Corps organizations are directed to apply under a different funding opportunity specifically designed for that purpose: NOFO 15.243, BLM Youth Conservation Opportunities on Public Lands. In practical terms, that means this threatened and endangered species NOFO is intended for project activities and staffing approaches outside the Public Lands Corps intern/crew mechanism, and proposals should be built accordingly.

The opportunity was created on 2023-03-17 and had an original closing date of 2023-05-16. The listed award ceiling is $10,000,000, signaling that very large projects or portfolios of work may be considered, although the number of expected awards is not provided in the source information. Overall, this opportunity is best suited for governmental agencies, tribes, universities, and nonprofit organizations that can carry out substantial threatened and endangered species conservation, recovery, monitoring, habitat work, or related planning and implementation efforts aligned with BLM priorities, while respecting the NOFO's clear boundaries around ineligible applicant types and the prohibition on using this funding to support Public Lands Corps intern or crew hiring models.

• The Bureau of Land Management in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "IRA Bureau of Land Management Headquarters (HQ) Threatened and Endangered Species Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.246.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-03-17.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-05-16. (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 $10,000,000.00 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 L23AS00309

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