BLM-ES, Youth Conservation Opportunities on Public Lands | L19AS00075

Opportunity Information: Apply for L19AS00075

The grant opportunity titled "BLM-ES, Youth Conservation Opportunities on Public Lands" (Funding Opportunity Number L19AS00075) is a discretionary funding announcement from the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), focused on advancing conservation work across public lands in the BLM Eastern States. The program is built around long-running partnerships with Qualified Youth or Conservation Corps, as authorized under the Public Lands Corps Act. In practical terms, the BLM is seeking to fund hands-on conservation projects that both address real land-management needs and create structured pathways for young people to gain paid work experience, job skills, and deeper exposure to careers in natural and cultural resource management.

At the center of this opportunity is the BLM Youth Program, which is designed to support on-the-ground stewardship while also strengthening and diversifying the future conservation workforce. The work is intended to reflect the complex realities faced by public land managers, including natural resource challenges as well as cultural resource considerations. By placing participants directly into project environments, the program aims to build experience that is difficult to replicate in a classroom, such as learning field safety, developing practical conservation techniques, understanding public land rules and multiple-use mandates, and seeing how real management decisions balance recreation, habitat needs, cultural preservation, and other public interests.

The primary objective is to engage individuals through Qualified Youth and Conservation Corps in projects that protect and promote multiple-use conservation outcomes on BLM-managed public lands. The target participant groups specifically include tribal youth ages 16 through 30 (inclusive) and military veterans up to age 35. Recruitment is intended to draw from local and surrounding communities, reinforcing the idea that public lands stewardship can be a community-based effort and that local residents can build careers and capabilities through their nearby public land units. The overall structure emphasizes both conservation results (completed projects that benefit public lands) and participant outcomes (employment, experience, training, and sustained interest in stewardship and the BLM).

Funding is offered through a cooperative agreement, which typically signals that BLM expects to remain substantially involved in the project during implementation (for example, through coordination, technical input, and shared oversight), rather than simply issuing a pass-through grant with minimal agency engagement. The funding activity category is Natural Resources, and the associated CFDA number is 15.243. Eligibility is listed as unrestricted, meaning the opportunity is broadly open to applicant types, with the understanding that any additional eligibility conditions would be clarified in the full announcement text. The announcement anticipated making about three awards, with an award ceiling of $300,000 per award.

The timeline for submission included two application rounds. The announcement was created on July 8, 2019, with round one applications due August 9, 2019, and round two applications due September 9, 2019 (the original closing date). Overall, the opportunity reflects a dual-purpose investment: completing priority conservation work on public lands while building a pipeline of trained, work-ready participants who are more likely to pursue ongoing stewardship roles or careers connected to the management of the National System of Public Lands.

• The Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "BLM-ES, Youth Conservation Opportunities on Public Lands" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.243.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jul 08, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Sep 09, 2019 Round one- Applications Due August 9,2019 Round two- Applications Due September 9, 2019. (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 $300,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 3 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.

Apply for L19AS00075

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