BLM-CO White River Field Office Restoration and Monitoring Project | L17AS00133

Opportunity Information: Apply for L17AS00133

The BLM-CO White River Field Office Restoration and Monitoring Project is a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Colorado funding opportunity designed to build a coordinated, landscape-scale restoration program in and around the White River Field Office (WRFO) in western Colorado. The core purpose is to restore and sustain healthy, productive ecosystems across grasslands, shrublands, woodlands, and riparian corridors, while improving overall land health and maintaining the working and recreational values of public lands. A key feature of the effort is that it is not confined to BLM parcels alone; it is meant to function across jurisdictions and landownership boundaries, including public, private, and state lands, to address issues that do not stop at fence lines, such as habitat fragmentation, watershed impairment, and invasive species spread.

This opportunity is structured as a cooperative agreement, meaning BLM expects substantial involvement and coordination with the selected cooperator rather than simply issuing a pass-through grant. The selected recipient is expected to act as a hub that helps bring partners together, align priorities, and move projects from ideas to on-the-ground work. BLM emphasizes collaboration with a broad network that can include state and local partners, conservation districts, producers and ranchers, educational and research institutions, nonprofit organizations, and other federal land management agencies. The overarching vision is to improve watershed and landscape condition, enhance wildlife habitat, and support long-term ecosystem function, while also strengthening the capacity to continue restoration even during periods of budget uncertainty by consolidating and leveraging multiple funding sources.

The work described in the announcement breaks into three main phases. First is outreach, coordination, and partnership development. In practice, this means the recipient is expected to recruit partners, build and maintain public support, and conduct the necessary consultation and communication with landowners, permittees, allottees, agencies, and the broader public. This role includes facilitating the relationships and agreements that make cross-boundary work possible and ensuring that restoration actions are understood and supported by affected stakeholders.

Second is project identification and prioritization in coordination with BLM. The recipient, working alongside BLM, would help compile an inventory of landscapes and sites that could benefit from reclamation or restoration, then prioritize projects based on need and impact. The announcement highlights the importance of addressing the most severely impacted lands and highest-need projects, while also keeping a reasonable geographic distribution and a balanced mix of project types. This phase may also involve organizing and securing partner contributions and matching funds where applicable, drawing support from permittees, the public, and other cooperating organizations.

Third is project design, development, implementation support, and monitoring. The recipient is expected to work closely with BLM staff to plan and design specific projects based on available funding (including any matching funds), solicit qualified entities to carry out on-the-ground work, and set up enforceable agreements with those implementers. A major expectation is participation in monitoring to assess whether treatments succeed or fail, and using that information to improve future planning. The announcement also points to the practical reality that some actions may be limited by landownership constraints, but the intent remains to improve whole landscapes and watersheds through coordinated planning and targeted implementation.

The types of on-the-ground activities contemplated are broad and reflect typical restoration and reclamation needs in the WRFO landscape. Examples include reclaiming and restoring impaired watersheds and disturbed landscapes, controlling or reversing invasive plant infestations, enhancing wildlife habitat, and improving vegetative resources. A specific emphasis is placed on reclamation of abandoned or orphaned oil and gas disturbance features where there is no operator of record, such as well pads, roads, and other infrastructure. Treatment methods may include chemical, mechanical, and prescribed fire vegetation treatments, erosion control measures, and range improvements. The opportunity also anticipates leveraging partner programs and in-kind support, including potential alignment with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), as well as contributions from sportsmen and conservation groups, industry trade groups, grazing permittees, soil and water conservation districts, and tribal, state, and local governments.

Administratively, this is a discretionary funding opportunity from the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, under CFDA 15.231 (Natural Resources). The opportunity number is L17AS00133, and it anticipated a single award with a ceiling of $125,000. Eligibility is listed as unrestricted, meaning a wide range of entity types could apply, subject to any additional eligibility language in the full announcement. The posting dates provided indicate it was created June 3, 2017, with an original closing date of August 2, 2017. Overall, the grant is aimed at selecting a capable partner that can coordinate cross-boundary restoration planning, build durable partnerships, and help deliver measurable land health improvements through targeted reclamation, restoration treatments, and monitoring in the White River Field Office area.

• The Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "BLM-CO White River Field Office Restoration and Monitoring Project" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.231.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jun 03, 2017.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 02, 2017. (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 $125,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 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 L17AS00133

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