IIJA Bureau of Land Management Idaho Cultural and Paleontological Resource Management | L23AS00243

Opportunity Information: Apply for L23AS00243

The grant opportunity titled "IIJA Bureau of Land Management Idaho Cultural and Paleontological Resource Management" (Funding Opportunity Number L23AS00243) is a discretionary federal funding opportunity offered by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM). It is structured as a cooperative agreement, which generally means BLM expects to have substantial involvement during the project period (for example, coordination on methods, access, compliance, reporting, or other project decisions). The program sits in the Natural Resources funding activity category and is associated with CFDA (now often referred to as ALN) 15.224. As the title indicates, the focus is on cultural and paleontological resource management work connected to BLM-managed public lands in Idaho, aligning with the broader objectives of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) to support stewardship, protection, and responsible management of public resources.

Eligibility is limited to public and nonprofit entities and certain education and tribal organizations. Eligible applicants include 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; Native American tribal organizations that are not federally recognized tribal governments; public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; and nonprofits both with and without 501(c)(3) status (as long as they are not institutions of higher education, which are listed separately). The notice is explicit that individuals and for-profit organizations are not eligible to apply for awards under this NOFO, which is an important screening criterion for prospective applicants.

The opportunity also includes a key restriction related to workforce and youth programs: it does not support recipients who want to hire 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 this particular NOFO is not the mechanism for doing so. As a result, organizations that are specifically looking to run youth crew or intern-based projects under Public Lands Corps should not apply here. Instead, the notice directs eligible Youth Conservation Corps applicants to pursue projects through a different funding announcement: NOFO 15.243, titled "BLM Youth Conservation Opportunities on Public Lands." In practical terms, that means this Idaho cultural and paleontological resource management funding is aimed at project work itself rather than serving as a pathway to build or fund PLC-style intern or youth crew hiring arrangements.

Financially, the award ceiling is listed as $50,000, indicating that individual awards under this announcement are capped at that amount. The posting lists "ExpectedAwards:" without a filled-in value in the provided source data, so the number of awards is not clearly specified from the excerpt. The opportunity was created on 2023-02-15 and had an original closing date of 2023-04-17, which frames it as a time-limited competition during that period.

In summary, this NOFO is a BLM Idaho funding opportunity for projects that support cultural and paleontological resource management on public lands, offered via cooperative agreement with awards up to $50,000. It is open to a broad range of governmental, educational, tribal, and nonprofit applicants, but it excludes individuals and for-profit entities. It also draws a firm boundary around youth internship and crew hiring under the Public Lands Corps Act, directing those kinds of proposals to the separate BLM youth conservation funding pathway instead.

• The Bureau of Land Management in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "IIJA Bureau of Land Management Idaho 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 2023-02-15.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-04-17. (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 $50,000.00 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 L23AS00243

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