Opportunity Information: Apply for L16AS00135
Apply for L16AS00135
- The Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "L16AS00135 BLM-NOC West-wide Wetland and Riparian Mapping Assessment" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.237.
- This funding opportunity was created on Aug 02, 2016.
- Applicants must submit their applications by Sep 02, 2016. (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.
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Opportunity Summary:
The grant opportunity L16AS00135, titled "BLM-NOC West-wide Wetland and Riparian Mapping Assessment," is a discretionary funding announcement from the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM). It was offered as a cooperative agreement under CFDA 15.237 (Natural Resources). The core purpose is to build a consistent, large-scale inventory and assessment framework for wetlands and riparian areas across western landscapes, addressing a major information gap that limits coordinated management and reporting. The opportunity was open to unrestricted applicants (any eligible entity, subject to any additional eligibility notes in the full announcement). The posting date was August 2, 2016, with an original closing date of September 2, 2016. Funding details indicate an award ceiling of $300,000 and an expectation of up to three awards.
The need for this project is rooted in the outsized ecological role wetlands and riparian areas play in the arid and semi-arid West. These areas hold water later into the growing season than surrounding uplands, making them disproportionately important as wildlife habitat and as sources of ecosystem services. BLM manages a very large footprint of these resources, cited as more than 17,600 square kilometers of wetlands and riparian areas, plus about 11,500 square kilometers of lakes and reservoirs, spread primarily across 12 western states including Alaska. Because BLM lands are managed under a multiple-use mandate, wetland and riparian systems can be affected by a wide range of activities, including livestock grazing, timber harvest, mining, energy development, and recreation. In practice, that means BLM needs reliable, comparable, and repeatable information to understand where these resources are, what condition they are in, and how they are changing over time.
A central management driver referenced in the opportunity is BLM's "fundamentals of rangeland health," which serve as the agency's interdisciplinary framework for evaluating land health from local grazing allotments all the way to national reporting. The announcement ties wetland and riparian mapping and assessment directly to these fundamentals by emphasizing four broad questions BLM must be able to answer: whether watersheds are in proper physical condition (including uplands, riparian-wetland, and aquatic components) and whether soil and vegetation conditions support balanced infiltration, moisture storage, water release, and improved water quality and flow timing; whether water quality meets state standards and BLM objectives (including needs of wildlife); whether habitats for federally listed, proposed, candidate, and other special status species are being restored or maintained; and whether key ecological processes like hydrology, nutrient cycling, and energy flow are being maintained or are trending toward desired conditions. The grant frames consistent mapping and inventory as the foundation for later or parallel work on condition and trend, meaning it is not just about drawing boundaries on a map, but about enabling credible evaluation and tracking.
The stated objectives focus on creating new opportunities to understand the extent and status of wetland and riparian resources across western landscapes and enabling a partner to investigate wetland status, condition, and trend across much of the continental United States. In other words, BLM is looking to collaborate with an external partner to develop or apply methods and datasets that can work at broad geographic scales, producing information that can support both on-the-ground decision-making and higher-level program accountability. The emphasis on "west-wide" and consistency signals that BLM is seeking standardized approaches rather than a patchwork of state-by-state or project-by-project inventories that cannot be compared or rolled up into regional or national summaries.
The public benefit case in the announcement is straightforward: there is no consistent, West-wide inventory of these wetland and riparian resources, even though they are among the most productive and diverse ecosystem components in the region and are often limiting factors for wildlife in dry landscapes. A standardized inventory would be useful not only to BLM, but also to other public agencies, universities, and researchers studying western ecosystems and water resources. The opportunity also highlights climate change relevance, noting that wetland and riparian areas are important indicators and tracking targets for climate-driven change, and that the resulting information could serve as a baseline for documenting shifts in extent, condition, and function over time. This makes the project valuable beyond immediate land management decisions, supporting long-term monitoring, research, and interagency planning around water, habitat, and ecosystem resilience.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): BLM-NOC West-wide Wetland and Riparian Mapping Assessment (L16AS00135)
What is grant opportunity L16AS00135?
L16AS00135 is a discretionary funding opportunity from the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) titled "BLM-NOC West-wide Wetland and Riparian Mapping Assessment." The purpose is to support work that improves wetland and riparian mapping and inventory at broad geographic scales across the western United States.
Which agency is offering this opportunity?
The opportunity is offered by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
What type of award is this?
The announcement was offered as a cooperative agreement.
What CFDA program is associated with this funding?
This opportunity is associated with CFDA 15.237 (Natural Resources).
What is the main purpose of the project?
The core purpose is to build a consistent, large-scale inventory and assessment framework for wetlands and riparian areas across western landscapes. It is designed to fill a major information gap that limits coordinated management and reporting.
Why is BLM prioritizing wetlands and riparian areas in the West?
The opportunity notes that wetlands and riparian areas play an outsized ecological role in arid and semi-arid western landscapes. Because they often hold water later into the growing season than surrounding uplands, they can be disproportionately important for wildlife habitat and for ecosystem services.
How large is the footprint of these resources on BLM-managed lands (as cited in the announcement)?
The announcement cites more than 17,600 square kilometers of wetlands and riparian areas managed by BLM, plus about 11,500 square kilometers of lakes and reservoirs.
What geographic area does the project focus on?
The project is described as "west-wide" and is focused on western landscapes. The footprint described in the announcement is primarily across 12 western states, including Alaska.
Who could apply for this grant?
The opportunity was open to unrestricted applicants, meaning any eligible entity could apply, subject to any additional eligibility notes included in the full announcement.
When was the opportunity posted, and what was the closing date?
The posting date was August 2, 2016, and the original closing date was September 2, 2016.
How much funding was available per award?
The funding details indicate an award ceiling of $300,000.
How many awards did BLM expect to make?
The announcement indicated an expectation of up to three awards.
What problem is this grant trying to solve?
The grant is intended to address the lack of a consistent, West-wide inventory of wetland and riparian resources. The announcement frames this as a key information gap that makes it difficult to manage these systems in a coordinated way and to report consistently across broad areas.
Why does BLM need consistent mapping and inventory instead of separate local inventories?
The opportunity emphasizes standardization and repeatability across large areas. A consistent approach helps avoid a patchwork of state-by-state or project-by-project inventories that cannot be compared or rolled up into regional or national summaries.
How can multiple uses on BLM lands affect wetlands and riparian systems?
Because BLM lands are managed under a multiple-use mandate, wetland and riparian systems can be influenced by many activities. The announcement lists livestock grazing, timber harvest, mining, energy development, and recreation as examples.
How does this work connect to BLM's "fundamentals of rangeland health"?
The announcement links wetland and riparian mapping and assessment to BLM's fundamentals of rangeland health, describing them as an interdisciplinary framework used to evaluate land health from local grazing allotments to national reporting.
What kinds of management questions is BLM trying to answer with this effort?
The opportunity highlights four broad questions BLM needs to address: (1) whether watersheds are in proper physical condition (including uplands, riparian-wetland, and aquatic components) and whether soil and vegetation conditions support balanced infiltration, moisture storage, water release, and improved water quality and flow timing; (2) whether water quality meets state standards and BLM objectives (including wildlife needs); (3) whether habitats for federally listed, proposed, candidate, and other special status species are being restored or maintained; and (4) whether key ecological processes such as hydrology, nutrient cycling, and energy flow are being maintained or trending toward desired conditions.
Is the project only about drawing wetland boundaries on a map?
No. While mapping and inventory are central, the announcement frames consistent mapping as the foundation for credible condition and trend work. The intent is to support evaluation and tracking over time, not just delineation.
What objectives are stated in the announcement?
The stated objectives focus on creating new opportunities to understand the extent and status of wetland and riparian resources across western landscapes and enabling a partner to investigate wetland status, condition, and trend across much of the continental United States.
Does the opportunity involve collaboration with an outside organization?
Yes. The announcement explicitly describes BLM's interest in collaborating with an external partner to develop or apply methods and datasets that work at broad geographic scales.
Who benefits from the resulting inventory and assessment framework?
The announcement states that a standardized inventory would benefit BLM and would also be useful to other public agencies, universities, and researchers studying western ecosystems and water resources.
How is climate change relevance described in the opportunity?
The opportunity notes that wetland and riparian areas are important indicators and tracking targets for climate-driven change. It also suggests that resulting information could serve as a baseline for documenting shifts in extent, condition, and function over time.
What is the long-term value of producing a consistent baseline?
According to the announcement, establishing a consistent baseline supports long-term monitoring, research, and interagency planning related to water, habitat, and ecosystem resilience, in addition to near-term land management decisions.
What is meant by "west-wide" consistency in this context?
In the context of this opportunity, "west-wide" consistency refers to using standardized approaches that produce comparable and repeatable wetland and riparian inventory information across broad western landscapes rather than isolated datasets that cannot be integrated.
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| Notice of Intent to Award: IBBEAM â¿¿ Integrated Biscayne Bay Ecological Assessment and Monitoring Apply for P16AS00442 Funding Number: P16AS00442 Agency: Department of the Interior, National Park Service Category: Natural Resources Funding Amount: $360,931 |
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| BLM Utah Division of State History Data Sharing and Management Project Apply for L16AS00261 Funding Number: L16AS00261 Agency: Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management Category: Natural Resources Funding Amount: $20,000 |
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| BLM Utah PFO Nine Mile Canyon Community Engagement Project Apply for L16AS00267 Funding Number: L16AS00267 Agency: Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management Category: Natural Resources Funding Amount: $65,000 |
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