BLM-(MT), Upper Missouri Watershed Restoration | L17AS00181

Opportunity Information: Apply for L17AS00181

BLM-(MT), Upper Missouri Watershed Restoration (Funding Opportunity Number L17AS00181) is a Bureau of Land Management Montana cooperative agreement opportunity focused on watershed restoration in the Upper Missouri Headwaters Basin in southwest Montana. The work is centered in three connected watershed systems: the Ruby, Big Hole, and Beaverhead watersheds, with the Beaverhead defined broadly to include all tributary watersheds upstream of Clark Canyon Reservoir. The program is rooted in the reality that these headwater landscapes are both nationally important as the source region for the Missouri River and locally essential for irrigation and agriculture, drinking water supplies, fisheries, and recreation. While many projects have already been implemented in the area to assess and improve watershed conditions, the agency is signaling that substantial unmet needs remain, especially as drought pressures and habitat concerns continue to intensify.

The opportunity is driven by two major regional priorities: drought resilience and Greater Sage-Grouse conservation. The Missouri Headwaters was selected as a national Drought Resilience pilot area under the National Drought Resilience Partnership, and a 2015 work plan identified implementation of local, on-the-ground projects as a core strategy for building resilience to drought. At the same time, the project area contains extensive sage-grouse habitat, including roughly 1.4 million acres of Priority Habitat Management Area (PHMA) and 1.2 million acres of General Habitat Management Area (GHMA). Because riparian corridors, wet meadows, and mesic (moist) habitats are critical for sage-grouse brood rearing and tend to be among the first habitats to degrade during drought, the BLM and partners have identified restoration of these areas as a shared, high-value conservation target.

Funding is intended to stimulate and support practical restoration and improvement projects that enhance riparian habitat, instream habitat, water quality, and water quantity, and that also include monitoring to document outcomes. Eligible project types are broad and include wetland and mesic habitat restoration; installation of beaver analog structures or other grade-control features to raise incised streambeds, reconnect floodplains, and improve groundwater recharge; streambank stabilization; riparian vegetation work such as planting native riparian species or removing expanding conifers from riparian zones; and improvements to the interaction between roads and aquatic systems, including fish passage projects, stream crossing upgrades, and road drainage fixes that reduce sediment delivery and hydrologic disruption.

Geographically, the Beaverhead watershed has an explicit early emphasis on projects located within sage-grouse PHMA and GHMA that restore riparian and mesic habitats. The notice points applicants toward specific areas where potential sites and actions have already been identified and analyzed in BLM environmental assessments, including the Sage Creek Watershed EA (DOI-BLM-MT-B050-2016-0008-EA), Big Sheep Creek Watershed EA (DOI-BLM-MT-B050-2016-0009-EA), and Centennial Watershed EA (DOI-BLM-MT-B050-2015-0011-EA). Additional Beaverhead-area restoration concepts have also been analyzed in the Blacktail Watershed EA (DOI-BLM-MT-B050-2017-0010-EA). In the Ruby watershed, the program supports restoring degraded riparian function through actions like instream restoration and conifer removal from riparian areas, with examples of analyzed actions referenced in the South Tobacco Roots Watershed EA (DOI-BLM-MT-B050-2017-0011-EA) and the Middle Ruby Watershed EA (DOI-BLM-MT-B050-2014-0005-EA). Although the background includes the Big Hole watershed as part of the overall project area, the description places the most detailed emphasis on Beaverhead and Ruby priorities and examples.

Beyond construction and implementation, the program can also fund the supporting work that often determines whether restoration succeeds and can be replicated. That includes project design and permitting; monitoring of hydrologic and vegetation responses; research that goes beyond single-project monitoring to generate broader guidance on effective watershed restoration practices; and technical workshops intended to train and build capacity among regional resource professionals, including learning from both successes and mistakes. The larger intent is to accelerate restoration across a mix of land ownerships, explicitly including both public and private lands, in order to improve watershed condition at the scale that water and habitat processes actually operate.

The public benefit case is framed around partnership and leverage. BLM is looking to promote cooperative relationships among federal, state, and local governments; nonprofits; educational institutions; and willing private landowners, with federal funding used to complement partner contributions and coordinate collective action. By improving riparian and wet meadow function, reconnecting floodplains, and addressing infrastructure impacts, projects are expected to increase the landscape's ability to store and slowly release water, which supports more stable flows, healthier vegetation communities, and better habitat for wildlife while also benefiting agriculture and recreation. Monitoring and data generated through drought resilience and sage-grouse related projects are positioned as decision-support tools for BLM and other land managers making ongoing choices about riparian and watershed resource management.

Administratively, this was a discretionary opportunity under CFDA 15.231, offered by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, using a Cooperative Agreement instrument. Eligibility is listed as unrestricted (open to any type of entity), subject to any additional eligibility clarifications in the full announcement. The opportunity was created June 21, 2017, with an original closing date of August 19, 2017. The maximum award amount (award ceiling) was $87,500, and BLM anticipated making about three awards under this solicitation.

• The Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "BLM-(MT), Upper Missouri Watershed Restoration" 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 21, 2017.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 19, 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 $87,500.00 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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