FY25 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management Colorado Cultural and Paleontological Resource Management | L25AS00144

Opportunity Information: Apply for L25AS00144

The FY25 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Colorado Cultural and Paleontological Resource Management opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number L25AS00144) is a discretionary funding announcement that will award cooperative agreements to partners working to protect, study, manage, and share cultural heritage and paleontological resources associated with BLM-managed lands in Colorado. The overall goal is partnership-driven work that improves access to and appropriate use of heritage resources while promoting their educational, scientific, cultural, and recreational value. Projects are expected to align with U.S. Department of the Interior priorities and the BLM Cultural Heritage and Paleontology Program goals, meaning the work should be both resource-protective and publicly beneficial, with clear outcomes for stewardship, knowledge-building, and responsible engagement.

Projects proposed under this opportunity must support at least one of several core objectives. Eligible activities include research and field-based studies such as inventories, excavations, records research, and collections-based research that deepen understanding of Americas natural and cultural history. It also supports monitoring of at-risk heritage resources to track condition trends and evaluate whether management actions are working, as well as stabilization efforts for vulnerable sites or resources where deterioration, vandalism, erosion, or other threats are present. The opportunity also emphasizes workforce development by supporting training for future cultural resource management practitioners and paleontologists through research projects, field schools, and internships that specifically highlight BLM resources and management contexts.

A major theme in the announcement is strengthening the information backbone that supports heritage management. Proposals may include cultural heritage data and records management tasks such as organizing, maintaining, and scanning site and survey records; creating, digitizing, and maintaining geospatial datasets; and performing data entry to improve the accessibility and long-term usability of heritage information. Collection care is also explicitly included: applicants can propose preservation work at recognized curation facilities, including archival housing, stabilization, or conservation treatments that protect existing collections. Beyond preservation, the BLM is also interested in expanding public access to museum collections, which can include improved discoverability, interpretive access, or other methods that responsibly increase public benefit while maintaining professional standards for care and security.

Public and community engagement is another central focus. The BLM is looking for projects that promote engagement with Native American communities and build partnerships with tribal governments and programs. Closely related, projects can be designed to support the BLMs tribal consultation efforts, which can include partnership activities that help the agency conduct consultation more effectively and respectfully while improving stewardship outcomes. The opportunity also encourages broader public engagement and learning through heritage education and outreach programs, events, and products that build conservation and preservation ethics among visitors and local communities. Finally, the program supports developing and maintaining historic sites that have interpretive and educational potential, which can include on-the-ground improvements that enhance visitor understanding and site sustainability when done in a way that protects the resource.

Funding is provided through cooperative agreements, which typically means the BLM expects substantial federal involvement during the project (for example, collaboration on planning, technical direction, review, coordination, or shared implementation). The award ceiling is listed as $500,000. The closing date is February 3, 2025. The CFDA (Assistance Listing) number associated with this program is 15.224, and the funding activity category is Natural Resources.

Eligibility is limited to non-federal entities such as state, county, and 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 that are not federally recognized tribal governments; and nonprofits (both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3)). Individuals and for-profit organizations are explicitly ineligible to apply under this notice of funding opportunity, which is an important threshold screen for prospective applicants.

There are also two notable program restrictions and administrative considerations. First, the notice clarifies that it does not support entities hiring interns or crews under the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993; that hiring authority is tied to the Public Lands Corps statute, and youth corps-style proposals should instead be pursued under a separate BLM funding opportunity (NOFO 15.243, BLM Youth Conservation Opportunities on Public Lands) if that is the main project mechanism. Second, applicants connected to the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESU) program should pay attention to indirect cost limits: if a cooperative agreement is awarded to a CESU partner under a formally negotiated Master CESU agreement that fits the CESU purpose, indirect costs are capped at no more than 17.5 percent of the applicable indirect cost base recognized in the partners federally approved NICRA. Applicants are expected to state whether their proposal furthers the CESU purpose and, if so, identify which CESU Network should be considered as the host.

• The Bureau of Land Management in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY25 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management Colorado Cultural and Paleontological Resource Management" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.224.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-12-04.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-02-03. (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, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), 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 L25AS00144

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