IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management National Operations Center (NOC) Recreation and Visitor Services Program | L24AS00439

Opportunity Information: Apply for L24AS00439

The IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management (BLM) National Operations Center (NOC) Recreation and Visitor Services Program is a discretionary federal funding opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number L24AS00439) run by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. It is designed to support recreation and visitor services work connected to BLM-managed public lands, and it will be awarded using a cooperative agreement. Because this is a cooperative agreement, applicants should expect substantial involvement from BLM in shaping, coordinating, or overseeing the project during performance, rather than a hands-off pass-through award.

The program is tied to the Natural Resources funding activity category and is listed under CFDA 15.225. While the public notice text does not spell out specific project types in detail, the title and administering office strongly signal that BLM is looking to fund projects that improve recreation management, visitor experiences, and visitor-facing services on public lands. In practice, opportunities in this space often include planning, assessments, visitor information and education, monitoring and evaluation, technical assistance, and other on-the-ground or programmatic work that helps BLM deliver safe, accessible, well-managed recreation and visitor use.

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; 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). Individuals and for-profit organizations are explicitly ineligible to apply, which is an important screening point for any potential applicant team or partnership.

Two restrictions called out in the notice are especially important for proposal design. First, this NOFO 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 of 1993 (16 USC, Chapter 37, Subchapter II) is the only legislative authority that allows BLM to "hire" interns under that authority, and as a result, youth internship or crew-style projects that rely on Public Lands Corps mechanisms should not be proposed under this funding opportunity. Instead, eligible Youth Conservation Corps applicants are directed to a different funding channel: NOFO 15.243, titled BLM Youth Conservation Opportunities on Public Lands. In other words, if the core of the project is youth crews, internships, or similar placements intended to be supported through the Public Lands Corps framework, this is not the correct opportunity.

Second, the announcement highlights special considerations for Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESUs). CESUs are partnerships created to facilitate research, studies, assessments, monitoring, technical assistance, and educational services, and applicants are asked to indicate whether their proposal furthers CESU purposes and, if so, which CESU Network should serve as the host. If a cooperative agreement is awarded to a CESU partner under an existing, formally negotiated Master CESU agreement consistent with CESU purposes, the indirect cost policy is capped: indirect costs may not exceed 17.5 percent of the indirect cost base recognized in the partner's federally approved Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA). This matters for budgeting because it can override a higher negotiated indirect rate and effectively limits recoverable indirects for CESU-based awards.

Key logistics included in the posting are the application deadline of September 30, 2024, and an award ceiling of $500,000. The posting does not specify the expected number of awards in the provided text, so applicants should not assume how competitive the opportunity will be based on award count alone. Overall, this opportunity is best suited for eligible governmental, tribal, nonprofit, and academic partners proposing collaborative projects that strengthen BLM recreation and visitor services, while staying clear of Public Lands Corps intern/crew hiring approaches and carefully accounting for CESU-related indirect cost limitations when applicable.

• The Bureau of Land Management in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management National Operations Center (NOC) Recreation and Visitor Services Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.225.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-08-23.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-09-30. (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 $500,000.00 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 L24AS00439

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