FY25 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management Oregon/Washington (ORWA) Forest and Woodlands Resource Management | L25AS00087

Opportunity Information: Apply for L25AS00087

The FY25 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Oregon/Washington (ORWA) Forest and Woodlands Resource Management opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number L25AS00087) is a discretionary federal funding announcement that will support on-the-ground forest and woodland work and targeted research that strengthens forest health and long-term management on public lands. Awards will be made as cooperative agreements, which generally means BLM expects active involvement and collaboration during project planning, implementation, and reporting. The program is built around high-priority needs tied to forest and woodland health, sustainable forest management, wildfire resilience, use of forest biomass (including bioenergy-related utilization), habitat conservation, and recovery actions following insect outbreaks, disease impacts, or wildfire.

Projects can cover a wide range of practical forestry and restoration activities. Examples include tree planting and reforestation, pre-commercial and commercial thinning, salvage or sanitation treatments, vegetation management to reduce competition, hazardous fuels reduction, and riparian or upland restoration. The funding can also support the compliance and planning steps that often determine whether work can move forward, such as Endangered Species Act-related needs, cultural resource clearances, and other environmental review tasks. In addition to implementation, proposals may include data collection, monitoring, and research components, especially where they help improve forest management decisions.

BLM identifies several priority directions within this announcement. One priority is implementation-focused projects that directly treat forest and woodland areas, including both the preparatory steps (site surveys, project layout, timber cruising, timber marking, boundary designation, and similar pre-work) and the actual field actions (planting, thinning, fuels reduction, riparian restoration, and related treatment activities). A second priority is producing data or conducting research that informs sustainable silviculture and forest management in Oregon, with specific emphasis areas such as density management, climate change adaptation, and understanding how silvicultural treatments affect forest structure and vegetation diversity over time. A third priority is work that helps achieve BLM Land Management Goals (as defined in the BLM Stewardship Manual) and that results in measurable treatment outputs, such as acres treated or units of work completed.

Eligibility is limited to public and nonprofit and educational partners rather than private commercial applicants. Eligible applicants include state, county, and city/township governments; special district governments; federally recognized tribal governments and other tribal organizations; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; and nonprofits (both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3)). Individuals and for-profit organizations are not eligible to apply under this notice of funding opportunity.

There are also notable restrictions related to youth hiring and the Public Lands Corps Act. This specific NOFO does not support projects that would involve hiring interns or crews under the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993. The announcement clarifies that BLM authority to hire interns under that act is addressed through a different funding pathway, and that eligible Youth Conservation Corps entities should instead pursue projects under CFDA 15.243, BLM Youth Conservation Opportunities on Public Lands, rather than this ORWA forest and woodlands resource management announcement.

For applicants affiliated with a Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU), the announcement highlights CESU-specific requirements. CESUs are designed to support research, monitoring, technical assistance, and education through partnerships, and if a cooperative agreement is awarded to a CESU partner under a formally negotiated Master CESU agreement that aligns with CESU purposes, indirect costs are capped at no more than 17.5 percent of the indirect cost base recognized in the partner’s federally approved Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA). Applicants are expected to state whether their proposal supports the CESU mission and, if so, identify which CESU Network should serve as the host.

Key administrative details provided include the agency (Bureau of Land Management), the assistance listing/CFDA number (15.233), the activity category (Natural Resources), and the original closing date of February 12, 2025. The listing shows an award ceiling of $100,000.

• The Bureau of Land Management in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY25 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management Oregon/Washington (ORWA) Forest 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 2024-12-05.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-02-12. (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 $100,000.00 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 L25AS00087

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