FY25 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management Wyoming Plant Conservation and Restoration Management | L25AS00177

Opportunity Information: Apply for L25AS00177

The FY25 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Wyoming Plant Conservation and Restoration Management opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number L25AS00177) is a discretionary cooperative agreement program focused on strengthening native plant conservation and restoration across Wyoming’s public lands. It is aligned with Department of the Interior priorities around responding to the climate crisis, restoring ecosystems and landscape balance, advancing environmental justice, and supporting a clean energy future, with a strong 2025 emphasis on implementing the National Seed Strategy (www.blm.gov/seedstrategy). At its core, the program treats native plants and native plant communities as essential “green infrastructure” needed to sustain biodiversity, maintain ecosystem function, and enable effective post-disturbance recovery after wildfire, drought, and other disasters that are becoming more frequent and severe under climate change.

BLM Wyoming is seeking partner-driven projects that protect biodiversity, build climate resilience, and leverage natural climate solutions, while also contributing to the national goal of conserving at least 30 percent of U.S. lands and waters by 2030. A major theme is getting the right seed to the right place at the right time: the program emphasizes the development and use of genetically appropriate native plant materials for restoration, rehabilitation, and reclamation. Proposals that integrate the best available science and data, and that measurably improve restoration durability over time, are a strong fit. Another explicit priority is community engagement and equity, especially projects that meaningfully involve communities of color, low-income families, rural communities, and Indigenous communities, including efforts that expand economic opportunities tied to native seed production, plant materials development, and restoration work.

Project activities described as good matches include efforts that reduce threats to sage-grouse, rare plants, and other sensitive species by restoring high-priority habitats, including habitats important for keystone wildlife and pollinators. The opportunity supports collaboration with growers and the native plant materials industry to increase the supply and availability of genetically appropriate plant materials for large-scale restoration needs. It also supports applied research and studies designed to make restoration more effective, including work in plant ecology, plant genetics, and ecophysiology; research on seed bank persistence; advances in propagation; development of agronomic production practices for native seed; and evaluation of traits, seed sources, treatments, tools, and seeding methods that improve establishment and long-term performance on the landscape.

Pollinator-related work is another clear focus area, particularly studies and on-the-ground projects that clarify how native plant communities support pollinators and how pollinators, in turn, influence restoration success and ecosystem function. The program also highlights rare plant conservation as a major need, including direct conservation actions for high-priority rare plant species, improved understanding of rare plant biology and threats, and monitoring, protection, and restoration of habitats that support more than 1,800 rare plant species, with over 300 species occurring exclusively on BLM lands. In practical terms, this can include targeted habitat protection and restoration, threat assessment, long-term monitoring frameworks, and species-focused management actions where appropriate.

An important cross-cutting goal is to normalize the use of genetically appropriate native plant materials across BLM programs, not just within restoration offices. The notice specifically calls out encouraging adoption across Wildlife, Oil and Gas, Minerals, Fuels, Emergency Stabilization and Rehabilitation, Range, and Renewable Energy programs. Proposals that help bridge these programs through guidance, decision tools, specifications, or implementation pathways can fit well because they create consistent standards for seed sourcing and restoration planning across different land uses and disturbance types.

The opportunity also invests in citizen science and public education tied to native plants and native plant communities. This can include developing technical guidance, videos, plant guides and floras, workshops, webinars, and apps that help the public and partners understand native plant identification, seed collection ethics and best practices, restoration principles, and monitoring approaches. Projects that expand awareness while generating useful data (for example, community-based monitoring that complements professional surveys) are consistent with the notice’s emphasis on education plus science.

Several eligibility and administrative constraints are spelled out. Individuals and for-profit organizations are not eligible to apply. Eligible applicants include state, county, and local governments; special district governments; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Tribal governments and other Tribal organizations; and nonprofits (both 501(c)(3) and non-501(c)(3)). The funding instrument is a cooperative agreement, which generally means BLM expects substantial involvement in planning, coordination, or oversight during the project rather than a hands-off grant relationship. The award ceiling is $250,000. The original closing date listed is February 17, 2025.

The notice also clarifies what it will not fund related to youth hiring. This NOFO does not support entities hiring interns or crews under the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993; that authority is handled through a separate opportunity (15.243, BLM Youth Conservation Opportunities on Public Lands). In addition, for applicants working through Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESUs), the program notes that CESUs are partnership networks used to conduct research, monitoring, technical assistance, and education, and that for cooperative agreements with CESU partners, indirect costs are capped at 17.5 percent. Applicants intending to use the CESU mechanism are expected to say so and identify which CESU Network would host the agreement.

Overall, this opportunity is best read as a practical, science-driven native plant materials and restoration program for Wyoming BLM lands, with strong emphasis on seed strategy implementation, biodiversity and climate resilience outcomes, habitat benefits for sage-grouse and pollinators, rare plant conservation, and broader adoption of genetically appropriate native plant use across multiple BLM programs, while also expanding community participation and educational capacity around native plant conservation and restoration.

• The Bureau of Land Management in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY25 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management Wyoming Plant Conservation and Restoration Management" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.245.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2024-12-16.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-02-17. (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 $250,000.00 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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