BLM (MT/Daks) State-wide Forest and Woodlands Resource Management Program | L19AS00021

Opportunity Information: Apply for L19AS00021

The BLM (MT/Daks) State-wide Forest and Woodlands Resource Management Program is a cooperative agreement funding opportunity from the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, focused on improving the health, resilience, and long-term management of BLM-managed forests and woodlands in Montana and the Dakotas. It sits within BLMs broader Forest and Woodland Resource Management Program, which oversees about 58 million acres across 12 western states and Alaska. The basic premise is to fund partner-driven work that helps forests better withstand and recover from wildfire, insect outbreaks, disease, and drought, while also supporting sustainable use of forest products and related local economic activity. The opportunity is closely tied to federal direction emphasizing active management to reduce wildfire risk, including Executive Order 13855 and Secretarial Order 3372.

Projects funded under this announcement are expected to concentrate on high-priority, on-the-ground forest and woodland work and the planning and administrative steps needed to make that work happen. BLM highlights density management and fuels work delivered through timber sales, Stewardship agreements, and Good Neighbor Authority (GNA) agreements as core tools. This includes treatments that benefit BLM lands and, where relevant, adjacent landowners, as well as salvage harvest and related actions following major mortality events such as large wildfires or widespread insect epidemics. The program description makes clear that BLM is looking for partners who can help expand capacity, reduce internal staffing burdens, improve responsiveness to the public, and increase efficiency by working across boundaries and leveraging additional non-federal resources.

The types of activities supported are broad and include both field implementation and the often time-consuming pre-work that allows implementation to proceed. Examples include tree planting, pre-commercial and commercial thinning, salvage and sanitation treatments, managing competing vegetation, fuels reduction, riparian and upland restoration, and biomass utilization efforts. The opportunity also supports project development and layout tasks such as site surveys, timber cruising, timber marking, boundary designation, and other preparatory work. In addition, it can cover planning analysis and documentation associated with land use plan decisions and compliance needs, including NEPA-related preparation as well as Endangered Species Act and cultural resource clearances, plus data collection and monitoring. A consistent requirement is that proposed projects must clearly describe a benefit to the public.

BLM identifies three main priority activity areas for proposals. First is project preparation, which can include environmental clearances, NEPA preparation, layout, and other pre-implementation tasks. Second is project administration, such as contracting and subcontracting steps, advertising for bids, awarding subcontracts or timber sales, and inspecting contractor performance. Third is direct implementation, measured in deliverables such as acres or units treated, completion of Authorized Restoration Services under GNA, or accomplishment of Stewardship land management goals as defined in BLM policy. In other words, BLM is not only funding chainsaws-in-the-woods work, but also the pipeline-building work that gets timber sales, stewardship projects, and cross-boundary restoration projects ready to execute and successfully administered.

The program lays out several strategic goals that clarify what success looks like. These include implementing science-based restoration to improve resilience to wildfire, insects, disease, and drought; maintaining sustainable harvest to provide a steady supply of wood products and biomass for renewable energy; and conducting salvage of dead and dying timber to reduce fuels while balancing wildlife habitat, watershed function, and soil stability and supporting local economies. The program also emphasizes providing the public with both commercial and personal-use opportunities for forest products such as firewood, Christmas trees, boughs and greenery, medicinal plants, fence posts, and pinyon pine nuts. Another stated goal is to expedite NEPA processes to accelerate removal of beetle-killed timber in order to reduce catastrophic fire risk and improve public safety for recreation users. Finally, BLM underscores collaboration through Good Neighbor Authority, which enables coordinated restoration services across federal, non-federal, and tribal lands when working with state governments, counties, and tribes.

Administratively, this opportunity is listed as a discretionary program using a cooperative agreement as the funding instrument, under the natural resources activity category (CFDA 15.233). The opportunity number is L19AS00021. Eligibility is described as unrestricted in general terms, with the caveat that Good Neighbor Authority participation itself has eligibility limits: GNA is only available to state governments, counties, and Indian Tribes, and it comes with specific requirements and restrictions. Stewardship projects are governed by BLM Manual MS-5920-1, which defines eligible land management goals and allows certain mechanisms not available under other authorities, including trading goods for services. GNA implementation is guided by BLM Instructional Memorandum IM-2018-008, including provisions that can allow eligible entities to subcontract using their own procedures. NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321) is explicitly referenced as a governing framework for environmental review.

For the 2019 cycle described, the funding opportunity opened May 23, 2019 and closed July 22, 2019 at 4:30 PM Eastern, with two submission rounds (Round One due June 21, 2019 and Round Two due July 22, 2019). The stated award ceiling is $350,000, with an expectation of about six awards. Overall, the opportunity is structured to help BLM and partners accelerate and scale forest restoration, fuels reduction, salvage response, and sustainable forest product initiatives, particularly by funding the planning, preparation, administration, and implementation work that supports timber sales, stewardship contracting, and Good Neighbor projects across Montana and the Dakotas.

• The Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "BLM (MT/Daks) State-wide Forest and Woodlands Resource Management Program" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.233.
• This funding opportunity was created on May 23, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jul 22, 2019 Open from May 23, 2019 July 22, 2019, 430 PM EST Round One Applications Due June 21, 2019, 430 PM EST Round Two Applications Due July 22, 2019, 430 PM EST. (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 $350,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 6 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

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