IIJA Bureau of Land Management Idaho Fuels Management and Community Fire Assistance Program | L23AS00238

Opportunity Information: Apply for L23AS00238

The IIJA Bureau of Land Management Idaho Fuels Management and Community Fire Assistance Program (Funding Opportunity Number L23AS00238) is a discretionary federal funding opportunity administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) that supports natural-resource work tied to fuels management and community fire assistance in Idaho. The funding is offered through cooperative agreements, which typically means BLM expects to have substantial involvement in the project beyond simply providing funds, such as coordination, technical input, or shared implementation responsibilities. The opportunity is associated with CFDA 15.228 and was posted on February 15, 2023, with an original application deadline of April 17, 2023. The maximum award amount listed is up to $2,000,000 per award, and the number of expected awards is not specified in the source information.

The core purpose of the program, as stated in the title and activity category, is to fund projects that reduce hazardous fuels and improve wildfire preparedness and resilience, including efforts that assist communities with wildfire risk reduction. While the provided excerpt does not list specific project types, the program name strongly signals support for activities such as planning and implementing fuels treatments, coordinating with local partners on community wildfire protection, and other work that reduces wildfire risk to people, infrastructure, and natural resources in and around BLM-managed lands in Idaho. Because it is framed as both "Fuels Management" and "Community Fire Assistance," it is aimed not only at landscape-level fuel reduction but also at helping communities take practical steps to live with wildfire risk.

Eligibility is broad for public and nonprofit entities, but it explicitly excludes certain applicant types. 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 and Indian housing authorities; and nonprofits both with and without 501(c)(3) status. At the same time, the notice makes clear that individuals and for-profit organizations are not eligible to apply under this NOFO, so proposals must come from an eligible governmental, tribal, educational, or nonprofit organization.

A key restriction in the notice concerns youth internships and crews. The NOFO states that it does not support entities hiring interns or crews under the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993. It explains that the Public Lands Corps Act (16 USC, Chapter 37, Subchapter II) is the only legislative authority that allows BLM to "hire" interns under that authority, and therefore youth-focused groups that are looking to develop projects centered on youth conservation corps internships or crews must apply under a different funding opportunity: NOFO 15.243, titled BLM Youth Conservation Opportunities on Public Lands. In practice, that means this Idaho fuels and community fire assistance program is not the right fit for proposals that primarily revolve around placing interns or operating youth crews under Public Lands Corps authorities; those should be routed to the specific BLM youth conservation NOFO instead.

In summary, this opportunity is a BLM Idaho-focused, IIJA-related cooperative agreement program intended to fund wildfire fuels reduction and community fire assistance work, with awards potentially as large as $2 million, open to a wide range of governmental, tribal, educational, housing, and nonprofit applicants. However, it draws a clear line on who can apply (no individuals or for-profits) and what kinds of workforce or internship models it will support (it is not a vehicle for Public Lands Corps intern/crew hiring, which is directed to the separate youth conservation funding announcement).

• The Bureau of Land Management in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "IIJA Bureau of Land Management Idaho Fuels Management and Community Fire Assistance Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.228.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-02-15.
• 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 $2,000,000.00 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.

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