FY25 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management Oregon/Washington (ORWA) Fuels Management and Community Fire Assistance Program Activities | L25AS00080

Opportunity Information: Apply for L25AS00080

The FY25 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management Oregon/Washington (ORWA) Fuels Management and Community Fire Assistance Program Activities opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number L25AS00080) is a discretionary federal funding notice from the Bureau of Land Management that will be awarded through cooperative agreements. The focus is wildfire risk reduction in Oregon and Washington, especially where wildlands meet communities. The program is designed to help partners work alongside BLM to lower the likelihood and severity of catastrophic wildfire by coordinating local efforts, reducing hazardous fuels, and improving public understanding of prevention and mitigation. It also frames this work as part of broader climate adaptation: creating more resilient landscapes and fire-adapted communities, supporting conservation and restoration goals, and generating local jobs tied to fuels work, planning, outreach, and maintenance.

Project types supported under this opportunity center on both on-the-ground fuels management and the planning, education, and community capacity needed to sustain that work over time. Eligible activities include hazardous fuels reduction projects in wildland-urban interface (WUI) areas on federal and non-federal lands, plus related education and outreach that helps landowners and residents take practical steps to reduce ignition risk and improve defensible space and preparedness. The opportunity also emphasizes community-level planning such as developing or updating Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPPs), conducting community wildfire assessments, and carrying out other planning efforts that identify risks, set priorities, and align partners around shared implementation strategies. Beyond initial implementation, applicants are encouraged to build in monitoring and maintenance approaches so that fuels treatments and community programs remain effective over the long term rather than being one-time efforts.

BLM ORWA lays out several strategic goals that applicants should align with. These include accomplishing fuels management activities across ownership boundaries; developing and delivering fire education, training, and community action plans or programs; completing CWPPs and related assessment and planning work; expanding community capability in ways that can increase local employment opportunities; and creating short- and long-term monitoring and maintenance plans for fuels reduction and community fire programming. In practice, competitive proposals are likely to show strong collaboration, clear deliverables, and a pathway from planning to implementation to ongoing upkeep, with measurable outcomes such as acres treated, communities engaged, plans completed, or training delivered.

The opportunity is explicitly connected to major federal investments in wildfire resilience. It supports the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), Public Law 117-58, Section 40803 (Wildfire Risk Reduction), and also supports projects funded through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), including Sections 50221 (Resilience), 50222 (Ecosystems Restoration), and 50303 (Department of the Interior). Applicants should be prepared to describe how their work advances these policy goals, such as protecting communities, improving ecosystem condition, and building climate resilience.

Eligibility is limited to public and nonprofit or academic entities, not private individuals or for-profit organizations. Eligible applicant types 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 and other tribal organizations; and nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (as long as they are not higher-education institutions). Individuals and for-profit organizations are specifically ineligible under this notice.

There are also important program restrictions to note. This NOFO does not support entities hiring interns or crews under the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 because that hiring authority is limited, and BLM points applicants instead to a separate funding opportunity (NOFO 15.243, BLM Youth Conservation Opportunities on Public Lands) for eligible Youth Conservation Corps-style projects. In addition, applicants affiliated with Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESUs) should pay attention to the indirect cost limitation: if an award is made 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 indirect cost base recognized in the partner’s federally approved Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA). Proposals should clearly state whether they further CESU purposes and, if so, which CESU Network should be considered as host.

Key administrative details include an award ceiling of $900,000 and an original application closing date of March 5, 2025. The CFDA/Assistance Listing number associated with the program is 15.228, the activity category is Natural Resources, and the agency is the Bureau of Land Management. Overall, the opportunity is best suited for governments, tribes, nonprofits, and universities that can partner effectively with BLM to plan and deliver fuels reduction and community wildfire preparedness work, particularly in WUI settings where coordinated action can directly reduce risk to people, property, and surrounding ecosystems.

• The Bureau of Land Management in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY25 IIJA/IRA Bureau of Land Management Oregon/Washington (ORWA) Fuels Management and Community Fire Assistance Program Activities" 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 2024-12-04.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-03-05. (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 $900,000.00 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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