FY25 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management California Forest and Woodlands Resource Management | L25AS00161

Opportunity Information: Apply for L25AS00161

The FY25 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management California Forest and Woodlands Resource Management opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number L25AS00161) is a discretionary funding program run by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) that will make awards through cooperative agreements. The program is geared toward getting high-priority forest and woodland work planned and carried out on public lands, with an emphasis on practical actions that improve forest health, strengthen wildfire resilience, support sustainable forest management, and address recovery needs following insects, disease, or fire. It also supports habitat conservation needs and work that helps move woody material and biomass into productive use, including biomass utilization for bioenergy where appropriate.

Projects funded under this opportunity can cover a wide range of on-the-ground treatments and the planning and compliance work needed to deliver those treatments. Examples of eligible activities include tree planting; pre-commercial and commercial thinning; salvage and sanitation treatments; controlling competing vegetation; fuels reduction; riparian or upland restoration; and project development tasks such as layout and design. The program also explicitly supports the technical and administrative backbone that often determines whether a project can actually move forward, including planning analyses and the preparation of documents associated with compliance and clearances under NEPA, the Endangered Species Act, and cultural resource requirements. Data collection and monitoring are also included as allowable activities, reflecting a focus on accountability and learning over time.

BLM identifies three broad priority buckets for funding under this announcement, and competitive proposals will typically align with one or more of them. The first priority area is project preparation work, which can include site surveys, environmental clearances, NEPA preparation, project layout, timber cruising, timber marking, boundary designation, and other tasks directly tied to getting a forest or woodland treatment ready for implementation. The second priority area is project administration work, such as subcontracting, advertising for bids, awarding subcontracts or timber sales, and inspecting subcontractor performance. The third priority area is actual implementation that achieves Land Management Goals (as defined in the BLM Stewardship Manual) and results in measurable accomplishments such as acres treated or other treatment units completed in forests or woodlands.

Eligibility is limited to public and nonprofit sectors and certain educational and tribal entities. Eligible applicants include state, county, and city or 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 tribal governments); and nonprofits both with and without 501(c)(3) status. Individuals and for-profit organizations are not eligible to apply under this notice of funding opportunity, which is an important screening point for partnerships that may involve private contractors (contractors can potentially be used as part of project delivery, but they cannot be the applicant).

There are also specific restrictions related to youth and internship hiring. This NOFO does not support entities hiring interns or crews under the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993, because that Act is the only legislative authority BLM uses to "hire" interns under that framework. As a result, Youth Conservation Corps proposals should be directed instead to the separate funding opportunity tied to BLM Youth Conservation Opportunities on Public Lands (CFDA 15.243), rather than submitted under this forest and woodlands resource management program.

For applicants that are part of a Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESU) network, the announcement highlights the CESU purpose and an important budgeting rule. CESUs are intended to support research, studies, assessments, monitoring, technical assistance, and educational services, and proposals should clearly state if they further the CESU program purpose and identify which CESU Network should be considered as the host. If BLM awards a cooperative agreement to a CESU partner under a formally negotiated Master CESU agreement that aligns with the CESU purpose, indirect costs are capped at no more than 17.5 percent of the indirect cost base recognized in the partner's federally approved NICRA, so applicants need to account for that limitation when building their budgets.

Key administrative details from the notice include an original closing date of February 3, 2025, an award ceiling of $300,000 per award, and a CFDA listing under 15.233. The opportunity was created on December 4, 2024. Overall, the program is designed to fund both the field work and the less visible but essential preparation and compliance steps that allow forest and woodland projects to be designed, cleared, awarded, and implemented efficiently, with a strong focus on forest health outcomes, wildfire resilience, and recovery on public lands.

• The Bureau of Land Management in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY25 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management California Forest and Woodlands Resource Management" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.233.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-12-04.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-02-03. (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 $300,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), 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 L25AS00161

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