Bureau of Land Management National Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management | L22AS00240

Opportunity Information: Apply for L22AS00240

The Bureau of Land Management National Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number L22AS00240; CFDA 15.244) is a discretionary federal funding program administered by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), through its Headquarters and National Operations Center. The program supports work in the natural resources arena, specifically focused on fisheries and aquatic resource management activities that align with BLM priorities on public lands and waters. Awards are made as cooperative agreements, which generally means recipients should expect substantial involvement from BLM during project planning, implementation, monitoring, reporting, or other key phases of the work, rather than a hands-off pass-through grant.

Eligible applicants span a wide range of public and nonprofit entities. Government applicants may include state, county, city or township governments, special district governments, and independent school districts. Higher education institutions are eligible as well, including public/state-controlled institutions and private institutions of higher education. Tribal eligibility is broad and includes federally recognized Native American tribal governments as well as Native American tribal organizations that are not federally recognized tribal governments. Housing authorities (public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities) are also eligible. Nonprofit organizations can apply whether or not they hold 501(c)(3) status, as long as they are not institutions of higher education. At the same time, the notice makes two major ineligibility points explicit: individuals cannot apply, and for-profit organizations cannot apply.

A key limitation in this notice is that it does not support projects that involve hiring interns or crews under the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993. The notice emphasizes that the Public Lands Corps Act (16 USC, Chapter 37, Subchapter II) is the only legislative authority that allows BLM to "hire" interns under that framework, and this particular NOFO is not the vehicle for that type of youth internship or crew hiring. As a result, even eligible Youth Conservation Corps or similar youth-serving entities are directed away from this opportunity for those kinds of proposals and instead must use the separate funding announcement identified as NOFO 15.243, BLM Youth Conservation Opportunities on Public Lands, for projects developed under that youth conservation authority. In practical terms, applicants should structure proposals around fisheries and aquatic resource management outcomes rather than workforce development models that rely on Public Lands Corps-style internships or crews.

From a funding and timing perspective, the opportunity lists an award ceiling of $600,000. The original closing date was April 22, 2022, and the opportunity record indicates it was created on February 23, 2022. The listing does not provide details here about the expected number of awards (it is left blank), so applicants would typically need to consult the full notice for specifics on anticipated award counts, project periods, cost share requirements (if any), evaluation criteria, and allowable costs. Overall, the opportunity is best understood as a cooperative agreement pathway for eligible public, tribal, nonprofit, and academic organizations to partner with BLM on applied fisheries and aquatic resource management work, while explicitly excluding individuals, for-profit entities, and any proposals centered on Public Lands Corps intern or crew hiring.

• The Bureau of Land Management in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Bureau of Land Management National Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.244.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2022-02-23.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2022-04-22. (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 $600,000.00 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 L22AS00240

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