Department of the Interior – Bureau of Land Management Montana/Dakotas Forests and Woodlands Resource Management | L21AS00371

Opportunity Information: Apply for L21AS00371

The Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is offering a discretionary funding opportunity focused on forests and woodlands resource management in the Montana/Dakotas BLM region. The opportunity is listed as Funding Opportunity Number L21AS00371 and is administered through a cooperative agreement, which typically means the BLM expects to have substantial involvement during the project rather than simply issuing funds and stepping back. The work falls under the Natural Resources funding activity category and is tied to CFDA number 15.233. In practical terms, applicants should expect projects to align closely with on-the-ground forest and woodland management priorities on or related to BLM-managed lands in Montana and the Dakotas, with coordination and collaboration with BLM staff as part of implementation.

Eligibility is limited to a broad range of public and nonprofit entities, as well as certain education and tribal organizations. Eligible applicants include state, county, and local governments (including cities/townships), special district governments, and independent school districts. Also eligible are public and state-controlled institutions of higher education as well as private institutions of higher education. Tribal eligibility includes federally recognized Native American tribal governments and Native American tribal organizations that are not federally recognized tribal governments. Housing authorities (public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities) are eligible, and both 501(c)(3) nonprofits and nonprofits without 501(c)(3) status may apply (so long as they are not institutions of higher education in those nonprofit categories). A key restriction is that individuals and for-profit organizations are explicitly ineligible, meaning private businesses and sole applicants cannot receive awards under this notice of funding opportunity (NOFO).

A major program limitation is that this NOFO does not support the hiring of interns or crews by recipient organizations. The notice emphasizes that the only legislative authority that allows the BLM to "hire" interns is the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 (16 USC, Chapter 37, Subchapter II). Because of that restriction, youth corps or youth conservation organizations that want to pursue intern or crew-based projects are directed to a different funding channel: NOFO 15.243, titled BLM Youth Conservation Opportunities on Public Lands. The takeaway is that this forests and woodlands NOFO is intended for project work that does not hinge on staffing models built around intern hiring or crew hiring under the grant, and applicants should structure proposals accordingly.

The award ceiling is listed at $50,000, so projects should be scoped to fit within that maximum federal funding level. The posting shows an original closing date of May 30, 2021, and a creation date of March 31, 2021, indicating this specific announcement was part of the FY2021 funding cycle. While the number of expected awards is not specified in the provided details, the relatively modest ceiling suggests the BLM may have been aiming to fund smaller, targeted efforts, pilots, or discrete management actions rather than large multi-year programs.

Overall, this opportunity is best suited for government partners, tribes, nonprofits, and educational institutions that can deliver tangible forests and woodlands resource management outcomes in coordination with the BLM Montana/Dakotas offices, without relying on grant-funded intern or crew hiring. Applicants considering youth-based field crews or internship-heavy approaches would need to shift those concepts to the separate BLM Youth Conservation Opportunities NOFO, since this notice is not designed to support that kind of staffing model.

• The Bureau of Land Management in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Department of the Interior – Bureau of Land Management Montana/Dakotas Forests 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 2021-03-31.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2021-05-30. (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 $50,000.00 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 L21AS00371

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