FY25 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management Idaho (ID) Recreation and Visitor Services | L25AS00069

Opportunity Information: Apply for L25AS00069

The FY25 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management Idaho (ID) Recreation and Visitor Services opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number L25AS00069) is a discretionary federal funding announcement from the Bureau of Land Management that will be awarded through cooperative agreements. It is designed to support recreation and visitor services work on BLM-managed public lands in Idaho, with an emphasis on projects that deliver tangible public benefits, strengthen nearby communities, and align with major Administration and Department of the Interior priorities around equity, climate, and sustainable outdoor access. The program sits under CFDA 15.225 and is broadly framed as a natural resources funding opportunity focused on recreation-related outcomes.

At its core, the Recreation and Visitor Services Program aims to provide a wide variety of outdoor recreation opportunities that benefit the public while also supporting local economies that depend on or are enhanced by public land visitation. For fiscal year 2025, BLM signals that it wants projects that build healthy communities and economies, advance environmental justice, address the climate crisis, and provide safe and equitable access to outdoor recreation for all Americans. The notice ties these goals directly to multiple landmark laws and executive priorities, including implementation objectives connected 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 also explicitly aligns with Executive Order 13985 on advancing racial equity and support for underserved communities, and Executive Order 14008 on tackling the climate crisis.

The types of projects BLM is signaling interest in cluster around four main themes. First are efforts that connect with youth, tribes, and underserved communities to foster stewardship of public lands, meaning projects that expand who participates in caring for and engaging with public lands and that strengthen long-term relationships with communities that have historically faced barriers to access or representation. Second are projects that enhance access to quality outdoor recreation while promoting climate resiliency, which suggests an emphasis on recreation infrastructure, planning, site improvements, and visitor services that can withstand or adapt to climate-driven impacts like heat, fire, flooding, erosion, or changing seasonal use patterns. Third are projects that identify and remove barriers to outdoor recreation and expand opportunities for all, which can include accessibility improvements, inclusive design, targeted outreach, or other changes that make recreation safer and more welcoming across different users and abilities. Fourth are projects that improve the visitor experience in a sustainable way through up-to-date and engaging visitor information delivered both online and in person, pointing to the importance of modern communication, wayfinding, education, and visitor engagement that supports both safety and resource protection.

Eligibility is limited to public and nonprofit and educational entities, not private individuals or commercial applicants. 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 Native American tribal governments; other tribal organizations; and nonprofit organizations both with and without 501(c)(3) status. Individuals and for-profit organizations are explicitly ineligible under this notice, so project teams that include private businesses would generally need to structure participation in a way that keeps the eligible entity as the applicant and award recipient, consistent with federal assistance rules.

There are also two important restrictions called out. The first is that this particular NOFO does not support entities hiring interns or crews under the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993. The notice explains that the Public Lands Corps Act is the only authority that allows BLM to "hire" interns under that framework, and directs eligible Youth Conservation Corps applicants to pursue that type of work under a different funding opportunity (NOFO 15.243, BLM Youth Conservation Opportunities on Public Lands). In practice, that means applicants should not build proposals around bringing on interns or youth crews under PLC authority through this specific announcement, and should instead focus on other allowable recreation and visitor service deliverables. The second is a cap on indirect costs for certain Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESU) partners: if an award is made to a CESU partner under a formally negotiated Master CESU agreement consistent with the CESU program purpose, indirect costs are limited to no more than 17.5 percent of the applicable indirect cost base recognized in the partner’s federally approved NICRA. Applicants are advised to state whether their proposal furthers the CESU purpose and, if so, which CESU Network should be considered as the host.

From a funding standpoint, the award ceiling is listed as $100,000 per award. The posting shows an expected awards field but does not provide a number in the source text provided, so applicants should plan around the stated maximum and confirm any total program funding or number of anticipated awards in the full announcement. The application deadline is February 3, 2025, and the opportunity was created on November 13, 2024. Overall, this NOFO is best read as a targeted chance for eligible governments, tribes, nonprofits, and higher education institutions to partner with BLM Idaho on recreation access, visitor services modernization, and inclusive, climate-aware recreation improvements that measurably improve how people experience and steward public lands.

• The Bureau of Land Management in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY25 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management Idaho (ID) 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 2024-11-13.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-02-03. (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, 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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