NM FY25 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management New Mexico Cultural and Paleontological Resource Management | L25AS00203

Opportunity Information: Apply for L25AS00203

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is offering a New Mexico-focused cooperative agreement opportunity titled "NM FY25 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management New Mexico Cultural and Paleontological Resource Management" (Funding Opportunity Number L25AS00203). The overarching purpose is to build and strengthen partnerships that improve access to and responsible use of heritage resources on BLM-managed lands, while highlighting their educational, scientific, cultural, and recreational value. Projects are expected to align with U.S. Department of the Interior priorities and the goals of the BLM Cultural Heritage and Paleontology Program, with an emphasis on practical outcomes that support stewardship, research, and public benefit.

Funded projects must address one or more core objectives tied to cultural and paleontological resource management. This includes research and study activities such as inventories, excavations, archival and records research, and collections-based research that deepen understanding of the nation’s cultural and natural history. It also includes on-the-ground monitoring of at-risk resources to document condition trends and evaluate whether protection efforts are working, as well as stabilization actions to reduce threats to vulnerable sites, objects, and localities. Another major focus is workforce development: proposals can center on training the next generation of cultural resource management professionals and paleontologists through research projects, field schools, and internships that specifically highlight BLM resources and management needs.

The opportunity also supports projects that strengthen the infrastructure behind heritage management, especially data and records work. Examples include organizing, maintaining, scanning, and otherwise improving site and survey records; creating, digitizing, and maintaining geospatial datasets; and performing structured data entry that improves long-term usability and compliance support. Collections care is also eligible, including preservation of existing collections housed at recognized curation facilities through archival rehousing, stabilization, and conservation treatment. Related efforts to broaden public access to museum collections are encouraged, tying preservation to meaningful public availability and interpretation.

Community engagement is a central theme, particularly work that promotes engagement with Native American communities and builds partnerships with tribal governments and tribal programs. The opportunity explicitly includes partnering to support BLM’s tribal consultation efforts. Proposals may also focus on public education and outreach that builds learning opportunities and promotes conservation and preservation ethics, including programs, events, interpretive products, and other outreach tools. In addition, projects that develop and maintain historic sites with interpretive and educational potential are included, reflecting an interest in both protecting resources and helping the public understand them appropriately.

Eligibility is limited to public and nonprofit sectors and certain educational and tribal entities. 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 tribal governments; and nonprofits (both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3), excluding institutions of higher education in that nonprofit category language). Individuals and for-profit organizations are not eligible under this notice of funding opportunity.

There are also two important participation constraints to plan around. First, 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 authority is the only legislative authority that allows BLM to "hire" interns in that manner. As a result, eligible Youth Conservation Corps applicants are directed instead to apply under a different funding opportunity, NOFO 15.243 (BLM Youth Conservation Opportunities on Public Lands), for projects developed under that authority. Second, applicants proposing projects through the Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESU) framework should be aware of the indirect cost limitation: if a cooperative agreement is awarded 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 applicable indirect cost base recognized in the partner’s federally approved negotiated indirect cost rate agreement (NICRA). Applicants are expected to state whether their proposal furthers CESU purposes and, if so, which CESU Network should serve as the host.

Administratively, this is a discretionary funding opportunity using a cooperative agreement instrument, classified under the Natural Resources funding activity category and listed under CFDA 15.224. The application closing date is February 26, 2025. The stated award ceiling is $150,000 per award, and the opportunity was created on December 19, 2024.

• The Bureau of Land Management in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "NM FY25 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management New Mexico Cultural and Paleontological Resource Management" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.224.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-12-19.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-02-26. (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 $150,000.00 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.

Apply for L25AS00203

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