Department of the Interior – Bureau of Land Management NV Fisheries and Aquatic Resource Management | L21AS00402

Opportunity Information: Apply for L21AS00402

The Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is offering a Nevada-focused grant opportunity titled "NV Fisheries and Aquatic Resource Management" under Funding Opportunity Number L21AS00402. This is a discretionary funding opportunity that will be awarded as a cooperative agreement, meaning recipients should expect substantial involvement from BLM staff during planning and implementation rather than operating entirely independently. The program is categorized under Natural Resources and is listed under CFDA 15.244. The opportunity was created on May 3, 2021, with an original closing date of July 3, 2021, and it carries an award ceiling of $200,000 per award. The notice does not specify the number of expected awards in the provided text.

The core purpose of the opportunity is to support fisheries and aquatic resource management work connected to BLM-managed lands and waters in Nevada. While the short description provided does not list specific project types, the title and activity category indicate a focus on conserving, restoring, monitoring, or otherwise managing aquatic ecosystems and fishery resources where BLM has management responsibility. Because this is a cooperative agreement, projects are typically designed to align closely with BLM priorities and may involve shared technical direction, coordination, data standards, or on-the-ground collaboration with agency specialists.

A key feature of this NOFO is its clear eligibility and participation restrictions. Individuals and for-profit organizations are explicitly ineligible to apply. Eligible applicants include a broad range of public and nonprofit entities: 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/Indian housing authorities; and nonprofits both with and without 501(c)(3) status (as long as they are not institutions of higher education in the nonprofit category listings). In practice, this means most governmental bodies, tribes, universities, and nonprofit conservation or watershed organizations could be eligible, but private companies and individual applicants cannot compete for these funds.

The announcement also emphasizes that this particular NOFO is not intended to support entities hiring interns or crews. It specifically explains that the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 (16 USC, Chapter 37, Subchapter II) is the only legislative authority that allows BLM to "hire" interns, and as a result, youth internship-style projects must be pursued under a separate funding opportunity instead. The notice directs eligible Youth Conservation Corps applicants to use NOFO 15.243, "BLM Youth Conservation Opportunities on Public Lands," for projects that would involve intern or crew hiring. In other words, applicants to this fisheries and aquatic resource management NOFO should propose work that does not rely on BLM-funded intern/crew hiring mechanisms and should structure staffing and project delivery accordingly.

Overall, this opportunity is best understood as a Nevada BLM partnership vehicle for fisheries and aquatic resource management efforts, capped at $200,000 per award, open to public entities, tribes, universities, and nonprofits, and structured as a cooperative agreement with BLM involvement. Applicants considering workforce-development or youth crew components are being clearly redirected to the separate Youth Conservation Corps-oriented NOFO, signaling that this program is meant to fund direct resource management outcomes rather than internship or crew-based programming.

• The Bureau of Land Management in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Department of the Interior – Bureau of Land Management NV Fisheries and Aquatic Resource Management" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.244.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2021-05-03.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2021-07-03. (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 $200,000.00 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.

Apply for L21AS00402

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