FY24 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management Idaho (ID) Invasive and Noxious Plant Management Program | L24AS00095

Opportunity Information: Apply for L24AS00095

The FY24 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management Idaho (ID) Invasive and Noxious Plant Management Program (Funding Opportunity Number L24AS00095) is a discretionary funding opportunity from the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM). It is intended to support invasive and noxious plant management work in Idaho under CFDA 15.230, within the broader natural resources funding category. Awards will be made as cooperative agreements, which typically means BLM expects substantial involvement in the project during implementation (for example, coordination on planning, priorities, deliverables, or field activities), rather than a hands-off pass-through grant structure.

Funding is available up to an award ceiling of $300,000 per award. The opportunity was created on October 2, 2023, and the original closing date listed is December 11, 2023. While the notice excerpt does not spell out a specific number of awards, it indicates “ExpectedAwards:” without a value, so applicants generally should not assume a guaranteed number of funded projects and should focus on proposing a strong, clearly scoped project aligned with BLM’s invasive and noxious plant management needs in Idaho.

A key point in the eligibility rules is that individuals and for-profit organizations are explicitly ineligible to apply under this NOFO. Eligible applicant types are primarily public and nonprofit entities, including 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; other Native American tribal organizations; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; and nonprofit organizations both with and without 501(c)(3) status (so long as they are not institutions of higher education in the nonprofit category description). In practice, this means local governments, tribes, universities, and a wide range of nonprofit conservation or resource-management organizations are within the eligible pool, but commercial companies and private individuals are not.

The NOFO also includes an important restriction related to youth hiring and internship programs. It states that this funding opportunity does not support entities hiring interns or crews under the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993. The notice explains 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 authority, and therefore youth-focused conservation corps projects must be pursued under a different funding pathway. Specifically, eligible Youth Conservation Corps applicants are directed to apply for projects developed under NOFO 15.243, titled BLM Youth Conservation Opportunities on Public Lands. In other words, applicants should not frame their proposal under this Idaho invasive plant program around Public Lands Corps internships or crew hiring; if the core of the project is youth corps or internship placement under that statute, BLM is telling applicants to use the separate youth conservation NOFO instead.

Another notable feature is the discussion of Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESUs). CESUs are described as partnerships intended to promote and provide research, studies, assessments, monitoring, technical assistance, and educational services. If a cooperative agreement is awarded to a CESU partner under a formally negotiated Master CESU agreement, and the project is consistent with the CESU purpose, then indirect costs are capped. The cap is a maximum of 17.5 percent of the indirect cost base recognized in the partner’s federally negotiated indirect cost rate agreement (NICRA). Applicants are instructed to state whether their proposal furthers the purpose of the CESU program and, if it does, to identify which CESU Network should be considered as the host. Practically, this means universities or other entities that are part of a CESU should pay close attention to the indirect cost limitation and should clearly flag CESU alignment and network affiliation in the proposal narrative, because it can affect both administrative budgeting and the agreement structure BLM uses.

Overall, this opportunity is a BLM Idaho-focused cooperative agreement program aimed at on-the-ground and/or supporting activities that prevent, control, or manage invasive and noxious plants, carried out by eligible public, tribal, academic, and nonprofit partners. Prospective applicants should pay special attention to the ineligibility of individuals and for-profits, avoid proposing Public Lands Corps intern/crew hiring under this NOFO, and, if applying as a CESU partner, plan budgets around the 17.5 percent indirect cost cap and explicitly identify the relevant CESU network in the application.

• The Bureau of Land Management in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY24 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management Idaho (ID) Invasive and Noxious Plant Management Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.230.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-10-02.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-12-11. (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 $300,000.00 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.

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