FY25 Bureau of Land Management Recreation and Visitor Services- Bureau wide | L25AS00310

Opportunity Information: Apply for L25AS00310

The FY25 Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Recreation and Visitor Services - Bureau wide funding opportunity (NOFO L25AS00310, CFDA 15.225) is a discretionary grant program offered by the BLM to support projects that improve recreation and visitor services on BLM-managed public lands. The core purpose is straightforward: fund on-the-ground efforts that directly enhance the experiences of people who visit BLM sites, while also helping nearby communities that benefit from outdoor recreation and tourism. The agency is emphasizing that proposals must be clearly tied to BLM recreation and visitor outcomes; if a project does not produce a direct, visible benefit for recreation and visitor services on BLM lands, it is unlikely to be competitive or even considered.

For fiscal year 2025, BLM is prioritizing work that helps implement and advance the goals of several major federal laws that shape public lands recreation and access. These include the Expanding Public Lands Outdoor Recreation Experiences Act (EXPLORE Act), the Great American Outdoors Act, and the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act. In practice, this means the BLM is looking for projects that fit within the kinds of improvements these laws are meant to encourage, such as better visitor access, improved recreation infrastructure, stronger visitor information and services, and recreation planning and management actions that protect resources while supporting high-quality use. The opportunity is bureau wide, which signals it is intended to support recreation and visitor services needs across the BLM system rather than being limited to a single state or field office, although individual projects will still need a clear connection to specific BLM-managed locations and visitor benefits.

Awards are made as cooperative agreements, which typically indicates the BLM expects to have substantial involvement during the project, such as collaboration on planning, coordination, or oversight. The listed award ceiling is $70,000 per award. The opportunity was created on June 23, 2025, and the original application closing date is July 23, 2025. The funding activity category is Natural Resources, aligning the projects with stewardship and management of public lands rather than unrelated community programming.

Eligibility is limited to public and nonprofit or educational entities. Eligible applicants include state, county, and city or township governments; federally recognized tribal governments; tribal organizations (including those other than federally recognized tribal governments); public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; and nonprofit organizations both with and without 501(c)(3) status. Individuals and for-profit organizations are explicitly ineligible, so proposals coming from private businesses or individual applicants will not be accepted under this notice.

A key restriction is that this NOFO does not support entities hiring interns or crews under the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993. The BLM notes that the Public Lands Corps Act is the only legislative authority that allows BLM to "hire" interns under that authority, and as a result, youth or conservation corps-style internship and crew proposals should not be submitted here. Instead, eligible Youth Conservation Corps organizations are directed to apply under a different funding opportunity: NOFO 15.243, BLM Youth Conservation Opportunities on Public Lands. In other words, even if a proposed recreation project is worthwhile, if its main mechanism is staffing via interns or crews under the Public Lands Corps framework, it belongs in the separate youth-focused NOFO rather than this Recreation and Visitor Services competition.

The notice also includes specific guidance for applicants connected to Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESUs). CESUs are partnerships designed to provide research, studies, assessments, monitoring, technical assistance, and education services that support public land management needs. If a cooperative agreement is awarded to a CESU partner under a formally negotiated Master CESU agreement and the work is consistent with CESU purposes, then 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). Applicants are encouraged to state clearly whether their proposal furthers the purpose of the CESU program and, if so, identify which CESU Network should serve as the host. This matters because it can affect both the administrative pathway and the indirect cost treatment of the award.

Overall, this opportunity is best viewed as targeted support for practical, visitor-facing recreation improvements on BLM public lands, with a strong emphasis on alignment with recent recreation and conservation legislation, clear public benefit, and eligible public-interest applicants. Projects that are tightly scoped, directly improve visitor services or recreation experiences on BLM lands, and fit within the cooperative agreement partnership model are the ones most consistent with the stated intent of the NOFO.

• The Bureau of Land Management in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY25 Bureau of Land Management Recreation and Visitor Services- Bureau wide" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.225.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2025-06-23.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-07-23. (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 $70,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township 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 L25AS00310

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