Bureau of Land Management Montana/Dakotas Wildlife Resource Management | L22AS00193

Opportunity Information: Apply for L22AS00193

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Montana/Dakotas Wildlife Resource Management opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number L22AS00193) is a discretionary federal grant program run by the U.S. Department of the Interior through the BLM. It is offered as a cooperative agreement, which generally means the BLM expects to have substantial involvement in the project during implementation (for example, coordination on work plans, technical review, data standards, reporting, or field-level collaboration), rather than simply issuing funds with minimal federal participation. The funding activity category is Natural Resources, and it is associated with CFDA/Assistance Listing 15.247.

The intent of the program, as indicated by the title, is to support wildlife resource management work in the BLM Montana/Dakotas area. While the provided notice text does not list specific project types, the program framing suggests activities that directly contribute to the management, conservation, monitoring, restoration, or improvement of wildlife resources and habitats on or connected to public lands administered by BLM in Montana and the Dakotas. Projects under a wildlife resource management umbrella commonly include habitat assessments, species monitoring, inventory and survey work, habitat restoration or enhancement planning and implementation, mitigation-related monitoring, data collection and management, and collaborative work that helps BLM meet land use plan objectives and other wildlife-related responsibilities. Because the instrument is a cooperative agreement, applicants should typically anticipate working closely with BLM staff and aligning deliverables with BLM priorities, protocols, and timelines.

Eligibility is broad for public and nonprofit sectors but explicitly excludes certain applicants. Individuals and for-profit organizations are not eligible to apply under this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). Eligible applicant types include state, county, and local governments (including cities/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, Native American tribal organizations (other than federally recognized tribal governments), public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, and nonprofits (both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3), as long as they are not institutions of higher education when applying under the nonprofit category). In practical terms, this means universities, tribes, conservation nonprofits, and governmental entities involved in wildlife and habitat work are the primary audiences.

A key restriction in the notice is about youth hiring and the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993. This NOFO does not support entities hiring interns or crews under the Public Lands Corps Act authority. The notice explains 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 specific framework, and projects that are structured as Youth Conservation Corps efforts must be pursued under a different funding opportunity. Specifically, eligible Youth Conservation Corps applicants are directed to develop and apply for projects under NOFO 15.243, titled BLM Youth Conservation Opportunities on Public Lands. The practical takeaway is that if an applicant is trying to build a proposal around youth corps crews or intern hiring under Public Lands Corps authorities, this is not the correct funding announcement; the project should be routed to the youth-focused NOFO instead.

From the funding details provided, the award ceiling is $125,000. The notice lists an original closing date of June 30, 2022, and a creation date of February 8, 2022. The number of expected awards is not specified in the source data excerpt, so applicants would normally look to the full announcement for any indication of how many awards BLM anticipated making, as well as any cost share expectations, period of performance, and evaluation criteria.

In summary, this opportunity is a BLM Montana/Dakotas cooperative agreement program focused on wildlife resource management activities, open to a wide range of governmental, tribal, nonprofit, and educational institutions, but closed to individuals and for-profit entities. It is designed for projects aligned with BLM wildlife and habitat management needs and is not the appropriate vehicle for proposals centered on hiring youth interns or crews under the Public Lands Corps Act, which must instead be pursued through the separate BLM youth conservation funding opportunity.

• The Bureau of Land Management in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Bureau of Land Management Montana/Dakotas Wildlife Resource Management" 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 2022-02-08.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2022-06-30. (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 $125,000.00 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.

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