FY25 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management Wyoming Recreation and Visitor Services | L25AS00175

Opportunity Information: Apply for L25AS00175

The FY25 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management Wyoming Recreation and Visitor Services opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number L25AS00175) is a discretionary federal funding announcement from the Bureau of Land Management that will be issued as cooperative agreements. It is designed to support recreation and visitor service projects on BLM-managed public lands in Wyoming, with an emphasis on practical, on-the-ground or programmatic efforts that improve how the public accesses, experiences, and learns about these places. The Recreation and Visitor Services Program frames recreation as both a public benefit and an economic driver for nearby communities, and it ties proposed work to broader federal priorities around equity, climate resilience, and sustainable outdoor access.

The program goals are explicitly aligned with several major federal laws and executive priorities, including the Inflation Reduction Act, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Great American Outdoors Act, and the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act. It also points applicants toward Executive Order 13985 on advancing racial equity and supporting underserved communities, and Executive Order 14008 on tackling the climate crisis. In practical terms, BLM is looking for FY25 projects that help build healthier communities and economies, advance environmental justice, address climate impacts, and provide safe and equitable outdoor recreation access for all Americans. Successful proposals are expected to do at least one of the following: connect with youth, tribes, and underserved communities to encourage stewardship and long-term engagement with public lands; enhance access to high-quality outdoor recreation while promoting climate resiliency; identify and remove barriers that prevent people from participating in outdoor recreation and expand opportunities to groups that have historically been left out; and modernize the visitor experience by providing current, engaging visitor information both online and in person in ways that are more sustainable over time.

Eligibility is limited to public and nonprofit-oriented entities rather than private individuals or commercial applicants. Eligible applicants include 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 (including those other than federally recognized tribal governments); and nonprofits both with and without 501(c)(3) status (as long as they are not institutions of higher education). Individuals and for-profit organizations are explicitly ineligible under this notice of funding opportunity, which means proposals must come from an eligible governmental, tribal, nonprofit, or academic organization.

There are also important boundaries on what this funding will and will not support. This notice does not support applicants hiring interns or crews under the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993. The BLM notes that the Public Lands Corps Act is the specific authority that governs hiring interns under that framework, and organizations that want to propose youth crew or intern-style projects under that law need to apply through a different funding pathway: NOFO 15.243, titled BLM Youth Conservation Opportunities on Public Lands. This distinction matters for project design because it signals that proposals under L25AS00175 should focus on recreation access, visitor services, and related stewardship and information delivery outcomes without relying on PLC hiring authority.

For applicants that are part of a Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (CESU), the announcement highlights a special indirect cost limitation. CESUs are partnerships intended to support research, monitoring, technical assistance, and education, and if an award is made to a CESU partner under a negotiated Master CESU agreement that fits the CESU purpose, indirect costs are capped at no more than 17.5 percent of the approved indirect cost base recognized in the partner’s federal Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA). Applicants are asked to state whether their proposal advances the CESU mission and, if so, identify which CESU Network should be considered as the host, which helps BLM route and administer the cooperative agreement appropriately.

From a funding and timing standpoint, the opportunity lists an award ceiling of $60,000 per award. The opportunity was created on December 16, 2024, and the original closing date is February 17, 2025. The funding activity category is Natural Resources, the CFDA/Assistance Listing number is 15.225, and the instrument type is a cooperative agreement, which typically indicates meaningful involvement by BLM staff during project implementation (for example, coordination on planning, data, outreach, site-specific compliance, or deliverables). Applicants planning to apply should shape proposals around measurable recreation and visitor service improvements, demonstrate how the work advances equity and access, and show how project choices account for climate resilience and sustainability while aligning with BLM’s Wyoming-focused recreation management priorities.

• The Bureau of Land Management in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY25 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management Wyoming Recreation and Visitor Services" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.225.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-12-16.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-02-17. (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 $60,000.00 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 L25AS00175

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