FY25 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management California Wildlife Program | L25AS00163

Opportunity Information: Apply for L25AS00163

The FY25 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management (BLM) California Wildlife Program (Funding Opportunity Number L25AS00163) is a discretionary federal funding opportunity offered by the BLM to support wildlife conservation work on BLM-managed public lands in California. Funding is awarded through cooperative agreements, which generally means BLM expects substantial involvement and collaboration during project implementation rather than acting only as a pass-through funder. The program sits within the Natural Resources funding activity category (CFDA/Assistance Listing 15.247) and is framed around Department of the Interior priorities such as addressing the climate crisis, restoring balance on public lands and waters, advancing environmental justice, and supporting a clean energy future. The original application closing date listed is February 14, 2025, and the opportunity notes an award ceiling of up to $1,000,000 per award.

Program priorities focus on tangible, on-the-ground and data-driven actions that improve wildlife outcomes while also supporting broader landscape resilience. Key priorities include protecting wildlife habitat, migration routes, and habitat connectivity that supports biodiversity; increasing resilience to climate change while leveraging natural climate solutions; contributing to the national goal of conserving at least 30 percent of lands and waters by 2030; supporting state agencies in meeting state wildlife population objectives; engaging communities of color, low-income families, and rural and Indigenous communities in ways that expand economic opportunities related to wildlife; and consistently using the best available science and data to guide decisions. In practice, proposals are expected to align conservation work with these cross-cutting goals rather than treating habitat work, monitoring, and community engagement as separate or optional add-ons.

The types of projects BLM is looking to fund span habitat restoration, conservation planning support, and applied wildlife science. Eligible activities include maintaining or restoring habitats for a wide range of wildlife groups such as upland game, waterfowl, big game, pollinators, sensitive species, and watchable wildlife. Projects may focus on conserving priority vegetation communities, improving water resources, strengthening habitat connectivity, or reducing threats to habitat or specific species. BLM also emphasizes monitoring and inventory work that produces complete, current, and accurate information on the distribution and abundance of wildlife and the condition of habitats that species rely on across BLM-managed lands. Related efforts can include assessing habitat condition and measuring progress toward resource management goals and objectives, as well as improving understanding of conservation opportunities for wildlife populations tied to BLM lands.

A notable emphasis is placed on coordinated monitoring frameworks and the integration of existing regional or national datasets. The program specifically calls out improving how BLM uses and integrates coordinated wildlife monitoring data, with examples including Integrated Monitoring in Bird Conservation Regions (IMBCR) and the North American Bat Monitoring Program (NaBat). Proposals that help standardize methods, fill key spatial or temporal data gaps, or connect local monitoring results to these larger efforts are aligned with the intent of the opportunity. The NOFO also supports new research that evaluates how successful BLM has been in meeting wildlife habitat and land use plan objectives at ecosystem and watershed scales, which signals interest in projects that connect field results to management decisions and planning effectiveness.

Education and outreach are also eligible when they are clearly tied to stewardship and conservation outcomes for species that depend on BLM-managed lands. This includes education projects that incorporate citizen science and student-based science, as well as broader efforts to increase public awareness of wildlife resources, conservation challenges, and conservation successes on BLM lands. The outreach component is not generic; it is specifically encouraged to include a targeted focus on communities of color, low-income families, and rural and Indigenous communities, consistent with the program's environmental justice and community engagement priorities.

Eligibility is limited to public and nonprofit entities and certain academic institutions. 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 other than federally recognized governments; and nonprofits both with and without 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education in that nonprofit category). Individuals and for-profit organizations are explicitly ineligible under this NOFO, so proposals must come from qualifying governmental, tribal, nonprofit, or academic organizations.

The opportunity also contains two important constraints that applicants need to factor into project design and budgeting. First, the NOFO does not support entities hiring interns or crews under the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993; it notes that this act is the only legislative authority that allows BLM to "hire" interns under that framework. As a result, eligible Youth Conservation Corps may only apply for projects under a different announcement (NOFO 15.243, BLM Youth Conservation Opportunities on Public Lands), not this wildlife program NOFO. Second, for projects implemented through Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESUs), indirect costs are capped at 17.5 percent. Applicants are expected to disclose whether they will participate in the CESU program and, if so, identify which CESU Network would serve as the host, since that affects both partnership structure and the allowable indirect cost rate.

Overall, this funding opportunity is designed for partners who can deliver measurable wildlife habitat and species conservation results on BLM-managed lands in California while also strengthening climate resilience, improving decision-quality science and monitoring, and building more inclusive public engagement and economic opportunities tied to wildlife conservation. The strongest matches are projects that combine habitat outcomes with credible monitoring or assessment, demonstrate how results will inform management at larger ecosystem or watershed scales, and intentionally include community engagement components that align with the program's environmental justice and access goals.

• The Bureau of Land Management in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY25 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management California Wildlife Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.247.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-12-16.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-02-14. (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 $1,000,000.00 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.

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