ORWA IIJA Bureau of Land Management Oregon/Washington Threatened and Endangered Species | L23AS00441

Opportunity Information: Apply for L23AS00441

The ORWA IIJA Bureau of Land Management Oregon/Washington Threatened and Endangered Species opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number L23AS00441) is a discretionary federal funding program run by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM). It is designed to support work related to threatened and endangered species in the Oregon/Washington BLM state area, fitting within the broader Natural Resources funding category and listed under CFDA 15.246. Funding is offered through a cooperative agreement, which generally means recipients should expect substantial coordination and involvement from BLM during project planning and implementation, rather than operating entirely independently as with some grant types.

The opportunity is open to a wide range of non-federal public and nonprofit partners. Eligible applicants include state, county, city/township, and 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 and other tribal organizations; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; and nonprofits both with and without 501(c)(3) status (so long as they are not institutions of higher education in the nonprofit category). The program explicitly excludes individuals and for-profit organizations, meaning proposals from private citizens, sole proprietors, or commercial businesses are not eligible for award under this notice of funding opportunity (NOFO).

A key restriction in this NOFO is that it does not support entities hiring interns or crews under the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993. The notice emphasizes that the Public Lands Corps Act (16 USC, Chapter 37, Subchapter II) is the only authority that allows BLM to "hire" interns under that specific framework. As a result, youth or internship-style projects that rely on Public Lands Corps hiring mechanisms are not intended to be funded here. Youth Conservation Corps or similar eligible youth-focused entities are directed instead to apply under a different announcement: NOFO 15.243, titled BLM Youth Conservation Opportunities on Public Lands, if their project concept centers on youth crews or internship hiring under that authority. In practical terms, this NOFO is aimed at threatened and endangered species conservation outcomes rather than serving as a vehicle for staffing youth crews through the Public Lands Corps pathway.

From an applicant planning perspective, the headline funding detail provided is an award ceiling of $500,000, indicating the maximum amount BLM anticipates for a single award under this opportunity. The posting lists an original closing date of April 14, 2023, and a creation date of December 13, 2022. While the number of expected awards is not specified in the provided data, the presence of a ceiling and the cooperative agreement format suggests BLM intended to select a limited set of partners and projects that match priority threatened and endangered species needs in the Oregon/Washington BLM landscape, with active federal involvement in oversight, coordination, and technical direction.

In summary, this NOFO is a BLM Oregon/Washington funding opportunity focused on threatened and endangered species work, offered as cooperative agreements up to $500,000 per award, open to governmental entities, tribes and tribal organizations, eligible educational institutions, housing authorities, and nonprofits, while specifically excluding individuals and for-profit organizations. It also draws a clear line between conservation project funding and youth/intern hiring under the Public Lands Corps Act, directing youth crew or intern-centered proposals to the separate BLM youth conservation funding announcement (NOFO 15.243) instead.

• The Bureau of Land Management in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "ORWA IIJA Bureau of Land Management Oregon/Washington Threatened and Endangered Species" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.246.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2022-12-13.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2023-04-14. (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, 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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