IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management Alaska Invasive and Noxious Plant Management | L25AS00117

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1) What is the name of this funding opportunity?

This opportunity is titled the IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management Alaska Invasive and Noxious Plant Management opportunity.

2) What is the Funding Opportunity Number?

The Funding Opportunity Number is L25AS00117.

3) Who is offering this funding?

The program is offered through the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Alaska as a discretionary program.

4) What is the overall purpose of the program?

The program supports on-the-ground and programmatic work to prevent, detect, inventory, control, and monitor invasive plants and state-designated noxious weeds on public lands in Alaska, with the central goal of reducing the spread and impacts of these species.

5) What problem is this program trying to address?

The program targets the spread of invasive and noxious plant species that can outcompete native vegetation, permanently degrade landscapes, and drive long-term management costs. The opportunity frames invasive and noxious plant expansion as one of the most serious threats to native plant communities and the benefits they provide.

6) What kinds of work does the program fund?

The notice describes support for both on-the-ground and programmatic activities to prevent, detect, inventory, control, and monitor invasive plants and state-designated noxious weeds on public lands in Alaska.

7) What outcomes does BLM Alaska want to see from funded projects?

Funded projects are intended to reduce the spread and impacts of invasive and noxious plant species, including protecting native plant communities and the benefits tied to those communities such as wildlife habitat, healthy watersheds, recreation access and experience, rural economies, and working landscapes.

8) What types of threats and drivers does the opportunity highlight?

The description emphasizes real-world pathways and conditions that allow invasive plants to spread and take hold. It specifically notes increased trade, travel, and tourism as factors that accelerate movement of species into new areas. It also highlights disturbance, especially more frequent wildfires, as a condition that can make sites more vulnerable to invasion.

9) Does the opportunity consider impacts beyond BLM-managed lands?

Yes. The notice highlights that consequences can extend beyond BLM boundaries. It notes that infestations can reduce ecosystem function and watershed health, diminish hunting, fishing, camping, and hiking opportunities, and create economic losses in both rural and urban communities.

10) How can invasive plant infestations affect private or adjacent lands?

The opportunity notes that impacts can spill onto adjacent private lands, affecting farms, ranches, and other resources, and can increase costs to the agricultural sector and landowners.

11) What type of award will be used (grant vs. cooperative agreement)?

Awards are made as cooperative agreements.

12) What does it mean that awards are cooperative agreements?

The notice indicates that a cooperative agreement signals BLM expects substantial involvement during the project rather than issuing a pass-through grant. Examples mentioned include coordination on methods, priorities, reporting, or field implementation.

13) What is the program area and CFDA number?

The funding activity area is natural resources, listed as CFDA 15.230.

14) What is the maximum award amount (award ceiling)?

The posted award ceiling is $100,000.

15) When was the opportunity created?

The opportunity was created on November 21, 2024.

16) What is the application deadline?

The original closing date is March 17, 2025.

17) Who is eligible to apply?

Eligibility is limited to public and nonprofit entities and higher education institutions. Eligible applicants include:

• State governments
• County governments
• 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 other than federally recognized tribal governments
• Nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education)

18) Are individuals eligible to apply?

No. Individuals are explicitly ineligible under this notice of funding opportunity.

19) Are for-profit organizations eligible to apply?

No. For-profit organizations are explicitly ineligible under this notice of funding opportunity.

20) Does the NOFO support proposals to hire interns or crews under the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993?

No. The notice states that this NOFO does not support organizations proposing to hire interns or crews under the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993, because that authority is handled separately.

21) Where should Youth Conservation Corps applicants apply instead?

Youth Conservation Corps applicants are directed to apply under NOFO 15.243, BLM Youth Conservation Opportunities on Public Lands.

22) Are there special rules for applicants that are part of a Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU)?

Yes. For CESU awards made under a formally negotiated Master CESU agreement, the notice states that indirect costs are capped.

23) What is the CESU indirect cost cap described in the notice?

Indirect costs are limited to no more than 17.5 percent of the applicable indirect cost base recognized in the partner's federally approved NICRA.

24) What additional information are CESU applicants expected to include?

CESU applicants are expected to state whether their proposal advances the CESU purpose (research, studies, assessments, monitoring, technical assistance, and education) and to identify which CESU Network should serve as host, if applicable.

25) What types of invasive species does this opportunity focus on?

The opportunity focuses on invasive plants and state-designated noxious weeds on public lands in Alaska.

26) Why does the opportunity emphasize prevention, detection, and monitoring?

The notice underscores that projects should address the pathways and conditions that allow invasive plants to spread and take hold, and it describes prevention, detection, inventory, control, and monitoring as supported approaches for reducing spread and impacts.

27) What kinds of community benefits are connected to the program's goals?

The notice links native plant communities to benefits including wildlife habitat, healthy watersheds, recreation access and experience, rural economies, and working landscapes, and it notes that invasive infestations can reduce these benefits.