IIJA Bureau of Land Management California Recreation and Visitor Services | L23AS00270

Opportunity Information: Apply for L23AS00270

The "IIJA Bureau of Land Management California Recreation and Visitor Services" opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number L23AS00270) is a discretionary grant offered by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), focused on supporting recreation and visitor service work on BLM-managed public lands in California. Funding is provided through a cooperative agreement, which generally means BLM expects to have substantial involvement in the project during implementation (for example, through coordination, oversight, or technical collaboration), rather than simply issuing funds and stepping back.

The program falls under the Natural Resources funding activity category (CFDA 15.225) and is tied to IIJA-related investment priorities, with the overall intent of improving the recreation experience, visitor services, and associated public-facing infrastructure or capacity on BLM lands. While the notice text provided is brief, opportunities in this category typically align with practical, on-the-ground recreation and visitor service needs such as improving visitor access, enhancing public information and wayfinding, supporting recreation site management, and addressing visitor use pressures in ways that protect resources while maintaining or improving public enjoyment.

Eligibility is limited to public and nonprofit or educational entities. Eligible applicants include state, county, and city/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; other tribal organizations; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; and nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education in the nonprofit categories). Individuals and for-profit organizations are explicitly ineligible to apply under this notice of funding opportunity, so proposals must come from an eligible public entity, nonprofit, tribe, or qualifying educational institution.

A key restriction in the notice is that this particular NOFO does not support applicants who intend to hire 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 legislative authority that allows BLM to "hire" interns under that specific framework, and that projects seeking to use eligible Youth Conservation Corps or similar arrangements under the Public Lands Corps Act must instead be pursued under a different funding opportunity: NOFO 15.243, titled "BLM Youth Conservation Opportunities on Public Lands." In practical terms, that means applicants should not structure their project budget or work plan around bringing on interns or youth crews under the Public Lands Corps authority for this L23AS00270 opportunity; proposals that rely on that approach may be considered nonresponsive or ineligible for funding under this NOFO.

The opportunity had an original closing date of April 17, 2023, and lists an award ceiling of $100,000. The number of expected awards is not specified in the provided data, which often indicates that award count may depend on available funding, application quality, geographic distribution of needs, or BLM program priorities at the time of selection. The opportunity record indicates a creation date of February 16, 2023, which helps contextualize the application window and the IIJA-era timing of the program.

In short, this BLM California opportunity is designed to fund collaborative recreation and visitor service improvements on public lands in California through cooperative agreements, is open to a broad range of governmental, tribal, nonprofit, and educational applicants (but not individuals or for-profits), and includes a clear programmatic boundary: it is not the correct funding channel for projects centered on Public Lands Corps intern or crew hiring, which must be routed through the separate BLM youth conservation NOFO.

• The Bureau of Land Management in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "IIJA Bureau of Land Management California 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 2023-02-16.
• 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 $100,000.00 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 L23AS00270

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