FY25 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management Headquarters (HQ) Recreation and Visitor Services | L25AS00157

Opportunity Information: Apply for L25AS00157

The FY25 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Headquarters Recreation and Visitor Services opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number L25AS00157) is a discretionary federal funding program offered through cooperative agreements to support recreation and visitor service projects on public lands. It sits within the BLM Recreation and Visitor Services Program, which is focused on providing a wide range of outdoor recreation opportunities that benefit the public and surrounding communities, while also carrying out broader Administration and Department of the Interior priorities. In practice, this means projects are expected to do more than simply add or maintain recreation amenities; they should also reflect priorities around racial equity, diversity, inclusion, economic strength, and reducing environmental and climate impacts.

For fiscal year 2025, the BLM is specifically looking to fund projects that build healthy communities and local economies, advance environmental justice, address the climate crisis, and expand safe and equitable access to outdoor recreation for all Americans. The program highlights several core outcomes it wants applicants to target. First, projects should connect with youth, Tribes, and underserved communities in ways that encourage stewardship of public lands, which can include outreach, engagement, co-created programming, and culturally informed approaches to recreation and visitor services. Second, projects should enhance access to quality outdoor recreation while also promoting climate resiliency, meaning the work should consider how recreation sites, trails, visitor information, and facilities can better withstand climate-related stresses like extreme heat, wildfire impacts, flooding, erosion, and changing seasons. Third, BLM wants applicants to identify and remove barriers that prevent people from participating in outdoor recreation, then expand opportunities in a way that is genuinely inclusive, such as improving accessibility, reducing informational barriers, addressing transportation or safety concerns, and designing experiences that meet the needs of diverse users. Finally, the program emphasizes improving the sustainability and quality of the visitor experience by delivering current, engaging visitor information both online and in person, pointing to a strong interest in modern, user-centered communication and interpretation.

This funding opportunity is also framed around major federal initiatives and authorities, including implementation priorities tied to the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), the Great American Outdoors Act, and the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act. It additionally references Executive Order 13985 on advancing racial equity and supporting underserved communities, and Executive Order 14008 on tackling the climate crisis. Applicants should expect that proposals will be more competitive when they clearly show how their project aligns with these cross-cutting priorities, not just with recreation delivery in a narrow sense.

Eligibility is limited to organizations and governments, not individuals or businesses. Eligible applicants include state, county, 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 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 (NOFO), so partnerships involving for-profit vendors would need to be structured carefully with an eligible lead applicant if allowed under program rules.

There are also two important limitations called out in the notice. The first is that this NOFO does not support entities hiring interns or crews under the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993. BLM notes that the Public Lands Corps Act is the only authority that allows BLM to "hire" interns under that framework, and as a result, Youth Conservation Corps that want to propose those kinds of intern or crew-based projects must apply under a different program: NOFO 15.243, BLM Youth Conservation Opportunities on Public Lands. The second limitation relates to Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESUs). CESUs are partnerships designed to support research, technical assistance, and education services. If an award is made to a CESU partner under a formally negotiated Master CESU agreement consistent with CESU purposes, indirect costs are capped at no more than 17.5 percent of the indirect cost base recognized in the partner's federally approved NICRA. Applicants are encouraged to state whether their proposal furthers the CESU mission and, if it does, to indicate which CESU Network should be considered as the host.

From a funding logistics standpoint, the award instrument is a cooperative agreement, which generally means BLM expects substantial involvement from the federal side during project implementation (for example, coordination, shared planning, or federal participation in key decisions), rather than a more hands-off grant relationship. The opportunity has an award ceiling of $650,000. The posting lists an original closing date of February 14, 2025, and the opportunity was created on December 13, 2024. The CFDA (now commonly referenced through Assistance Listings) number associated with this program is 15.225, and the funding activity category is Natural Resources.

Overall, this opportunity is best understood as funding for recreation and visitor service improvements that also advance equity, climate resilience, environmental justice, and modern visitor engagement, with particular attention to connecting underserved communities, youth, and Tribes to public lands in meaningful and lasting ways.

• The Bureau of Land Management in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY25 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management Headquarters (HQ) 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 2024-12-13.
• 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 $650,000.00 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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