FY25 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management Oregon/Washington (ORWA) Rangeland Resource Management | L25AS00086

Opportunity Information: Apply for L25AS00086

The FY25 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management Oregon/Washington (ORWA) Rangeland Resource Management opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number L25AS00086) is a discretionary funding notice from the Bureau of Land Management that will issue awards through cooperative agreements. The program is centered on rangeland health work, specifically the inventories, assessments, and evaluations that document soil and vegetation conditions and overall land health on BLM-managed lands. A key emphasis is on collecting, analyzing, and using monitoring data to track progress toward established land health standards, so proposals are expected to be grounded in measurable conditions, credible monitoring approaches, and practical application of the results to management.

Projects funded under this notice are intended to address high-priority rangeland work with national significance, particularly efforts that cross state boundaries rather than being purely local or single-site in impact. The BLM highlights priorities such as maintaining or achieving land health and productivity, increasing carbon sequestration, and building resilient landscapes that will benefit both current and future generations. In practical terms, the agency is signaling interest in projects that connect rangeland management to climate and resilience outcomes, show clear pathways to improved ecological function, and can be replicated or scaled across multiple areas or jurisdictions.

The types of activities the program is willing to support include, but are not limited to, conservation and restoration actions that help rangelands combat climate change, along with technical and science-based work like soils mapping and the development of ecological site descriptions. Another explicit category is community and stakeholder engagement, including mentoring, training, and educational programs that build shared capacity around rangeland stewardship. Taken together, the scope blends field-based resource work (assessment, monitoring, mapping, restoration planning and implementation where applicable) with knowledge-building components (ecological site information, training, and collaboration), as long as the proposal aligns with the stated priorities and contributes to land health outcomes.

Eligibility is limited to a set of public and nonprofit 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 that are not federally recognized as governments; and nonprofits (both 501(c)(3) and nonprofits without 501(c)(3) status). Individuals and for-profit organizations are explicitly ineligible under this notice, which means proposals must be submitted by an eligible organization even if individuals or businesses participate as partners or contractors under the award, consistent with federal assistance rules.

There are also important workforce and youth-program limitations. This NOFO does not support applicants who want to hire interns or crews under the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993, because that Act is described as the only legislative authority allowing BLM to "hire" interns under that specific mechanism. As a result, Youth Conservation Corps entities that want to pursue youth crew or intern-style work need to apply under a different BLM funding opportunity, identified as NOFO 15.243, BLM Youth Conservation Opportunities on Public Lands, rather than under this rangeland management notice.

For applicants connected to the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESU) network, the notice provides specific guidance. CESUs are described as partnerships designed to conduct and support research, studies, assessments, monitoring, technical assistance, and education. If an award is made to a CESU partner under an existing, formally negotiated Master CESU agreement and the project is consistent with CESU purposes, the indirect cost rate is capped at no more than 17.5 percent of the indirect cost base recognized in the partner's federally approved NICRA. Applicants are asked to clearly state whether their proposal advances the CESU mission and, if so, which CESU Network should be considered as the host.

From the published opportunity details, the application deadline is listed as February 18, 2025 (OriginalClosingDate: 2025-02-18). The award ceiling is $500,000. The assistance listing is under CFDA (Assistance Listing) number 15.237, and the activity category is Natural Resources. Because the instrument is a cooperative agreement, applicants should generally expect substantial federal involvement compared to a standard grant, often meaning closer coordination with BLM staff on planning, technical methods, deliverables, and reporting, consistent with the cooperative agreement structure.

Overall, this opportunity is aimed at organizations capable of delivering rigorous rangeland assessment and monitoring work, producing useful management tools like soils maps and ecological site descriptions, and advancing restoration and resilience outcomes that matter beyond a single location. Strong proposals will typically connect clear land health objectives to credible data collection and evaluation methods, demonstrate multi-state or cross-boundary relevance, and show how results will be used to improve rangeland condition, productivity, carbon outcomes, and long-term landscape resilience.

• The Bureau of Land Management in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY25 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management Oregon/Washington (ORWA) Rangeland Resource Management" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.237.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-11-14.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-02-18. (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 $500,000.00 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.

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