IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management Alaska Wildlife Program | L24AS00333

Opportunity Information: Apply for L24AS00333

The IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Alaska Wildlife Program (Funding Opportunity Number L24AS00333) is a discretionary federal funding opportunity from the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. Funding is provided through a cooperative agreement, which generally means BLM expects to have substantial involvement during the project period (for example, coordination on workplans, methods, reporting, or field activities). The program sits in the Natural Resources funding activity category and is associated with CFDA 15.247. The notice was created on April 2, 2024, and the original closing date listed is June 3, 2024. The award ceiling is $30,000, indicating projects are intended to be relatively focused in scope, such as targeted wildlife research, monitoring, assessments, or related technical work that supports BLM-managed lands in Alaska.

Eligibility is limited to a defined set of non-federal entities. Eligible applicants include state, county, and city/township governments; 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; Native American tribal organizations that are not federally recognized tribal governments; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; and nonprofit organizations both with and without 501(c)(3) status (excluding higher education institutions, which are listed separately). Individuals and for-profit organizations are explicitly ineligible, so proposals must come from an eligible government entity, tribe/tribal organization, nonprofit, or educational institution rather than a private business or a person applying independently.

A key restriction in the notice is that this NOFO is not intended to support projects that involve hiring interns or crews under the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993. The notice emphasizes that the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 (16 USC, Chapter 37, Subchapter II) is the legislative authority that allows BLM to "hire" interns under that framework, and as a result, applicants should not propose intern/crew hiring under this Alaska Wildlife Program NOFO. Youth Conservation Corps and similar youth-oriented efforts are directed instead to a different funding opportunity: NOFO 15.243, titled BLM Youth Conservation Opportunities on Public Lands. In practical terms, applicants should frame proposals around wildlife program deliverables (research, monitoring, assessments, technical assistance, education) rather than youth corps staffing models, and route youth corps concepts through the specified youth-focused NOFO.

The announcement also highlights the role of Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESUs). CESUs are partnerships designed to promote and provide research, studies, assessments, monitoring, technical assistance, and educational services, which aligns closely with typical wildlife program work. If an award is made to a CESU partner under an established Master CESU agreement, indirect costs are capped: they may not exceed 17.5 percent of the indirect cost base that is recognized in the partner's federally approved Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA). Applicants are encouraged to state clearly whether their proposal furthers the CESU program purpose and, if it does, to indicate which CESU Network should serve as the host. This matters for administrative routing and for budgeting, because CESU awards have that specific indirect cost limitation.

Overall, this opportunity is a small-grant, cooperative-agreement pathway for eligible public, nonprofit, tribal, and academic organizations to carry out Alaska-focused wildlife-related work that supports BLM management needs, with clear guardrails around who can apply, how youth/intern labor can (and cannot) be funded under this particular NOFO, and how indirect costs must be handled if the project is pursued through a CESU partnership.

• The Bureau of Land Management in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management Alaska 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 2024-04-02.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-06-03. (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 $30,000.00 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 L24AS00333

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