Department of the Interior - Bureau of Land Management Arizona Wildlife Resource Management | L21AS00366

Opportunity Information: Apply for L21AS00366

The Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Arizona Wildlife Resource Management grant opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number L21AS00366) is a discretionary funding program intended to support wildlife and natural resource management work in Arizona through cooperative agreements. The assistance listing tied to this opportunity is CFDA 15.247, and the activity category is Natural Resources. In practical terms, this opportunity is designed for projects that advance BLM priorities related to wildlife resources on public lands, with funding provided through a cooperative agreement structure, which typically means BLM expects to have substantial involvement in the project’s implementation, coordination, or oversight rather than simply issuing a pass-through grant.

A key restriction is highlighted prominently in the notice: this particular Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) does not support applicants that plan to use the award to hire interns or field crews. The notice explains that the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 (16 USC, Chapter 37, Subchapter II - Public Lands Corps) is the only legislative authority that allows BLM to "hire" interns, and because this wildlife resource management NOFO is not issued under that authority, applicants cannot propose intern or crew hiring under this program. If an eligible Youth Conservation Corps or similar youth-focused organization wants to propose a project centered on youth crews or interns, the notice directs them instead to pursue work under a different funding announcement: NOFO 15.243, titled BLM Youth Conservation Opportunities on Public Lands. The takeaway is that proposals here should be framed around programmatic, technical, and on-the-ground wildlife management outcomes without positioning the award as a vehicle for staffing youth interns or conservation crews.

Eligibility for this opportunity is broad and spans multiple categories of public and nonprofit entities. Eligible applicants include state, county, and city or 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 Native American tribal organizations; public housing authorities and Indian housing authorities; and nonprofits both with and without 501(c)(3) status (as long as they are not institutions of higher education in those nonprofit categories). This wide eligibility suggests BLM anticipated partnerships that could include governmental wildlife agencies, academic institutions engaged in applied research, tribal entities managing wildlife and habitat resources, and nonprofit conservation organizations capable of delivering technical wildlife projects.

The maximum award amount listed is $210,000 (award ceiling), and the original application closing date for the opportunity was June 25, 2021. The notice’s creation date is April 26, 2021. While the listing does not specify the number of awards expected, the presence of an award ceiling helps applicants calibrate project scope and budget around a mid-sized cooperative agreement typical of targeted field, monitoring, habitat improvement, or planning efforts rather than large infrastructure or multi-million dollar programs.

In summary, this BLM Arizona Wildlife Resource Management opportunity is a cooperative agreement funding route for eligible governmental, tribal, academic, housing authority, and nonprofit applicants to carry out wildlife-related natural resource work connected to BLM-managed lands in Arizona. The most important compliance point is the explicit prohibition on using this particular NOFO to hire interns or crews; organizations wishing to pursue youth intern or crew-based conservation projects must instead apply under the separate BLM youth conservation funding announcement referenced in the notice.

• The Bureau of Land Management in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Department of the Interior - Bureau of Land Management Arizona Wildlife Resource Management" 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 2021-04-26.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2021-06-25. (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 $210,000.00 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 L21AS00366

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