Blue Lake Rancheria

Blue Lake Rancheria, a federally recognized Indian tribe headquartered in Blue Lake, California, operates as a federal grant recipient delivering community services, infrastructure, and governance support primarily through direct awards from federal agencies rather than federal contracting. The tribe received 203 prime federal grants (98% of its awards) and four sub-awards across 38 distinct federal customer agencies, with no federal contracting vehicle participation and no prime contract awardees in the sourced record.

Blue Lake Rancheria's portfolio concentrates in tribal social services, environmental stewardship, and community development. The tribe is the prime recipient for a $11.498 million Cooperative Agreement from EPA Region 9 under the Climate Pollution Reduction Grants program (CFDA 66.046) to implement greenhouse gas reduction measures—land acquisition and management of approximately 250 acres of coastal and 400 acres of forestland to sequester carbon and create 100 acres of new wetland habitat. The tribe also receives a $1.460 million Project Grant from NOAA under the Pacific Salmon Treaty Program (CFDA 11.438) to develop adaptive management strategies addressing salmon population threats in the Mad River Watershed. Education and youth development funding includes a $2.446 million Project Grant from the Department of Education's Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (CFDA 84.051) for the Modern Youth Internship Academies program and multiple awards under CFDA 84.299 (Indian Education -- Special Programs for Indian Children) totaling nearly $1 million for teacher recruitment, educator development, and youth internship academies. The tribe holds recurring Older Americans Act grants under the Administration for Community Living for nutrition services and caregiver support (formula grants under CFDAs 93.328, 93.752, and 93.753) and multiple library service and youth programming grants from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Law enforcement and emergency preparedness work includes a $604.778 million Project Grant from COPS (CFDA 16.710) for tribal law enforcement officer hiring, a $849.593 thousand Project Grant from FEMA (CFDA 97.052) for emergency operations center construction and equipment, and homeland security grants from FEMA (CFDA 97.067) totaling over $600 thousand. Transit operations funding from the Federal Transit Administration (primarily Section 5311 formula grants) supports tribal transportation employee retention and service continuity. Environmental compliance and air quality monitoring grants from EPA Region 9 (CFDAs 66.034 and 66.046) total approximately $400 thousand combined. The tribe received a single definitive contract on April 1, 2024—an $81.6 thousand firm fixed-price award from the Morris K. Udall Foundation for West Coast Tribal Cultural Landscape Assessment services supporting the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, currently in closeout status with an ultimate completion date of February 5, 2026.

Customer concentration sits with federal agencies serving tribal communities. The Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Community Living (27 awards), the Department of Transportation Federal Transit Administration (19 awards), the Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs and Indian Education (15 awards), and the Department of Housing and Urban Development Public and Indian Housing Office (10 awards) comprise 43% of recent award volume. Award activity remained steady over the past five years (9 awards in 2022 rising to a peak of 16 in 2024, with 11 in 2025 and 6 year-to-date in 2026), and 18 awards face ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months. The tribe acts as prime recipient on nearly all awards; sub-award engagement is minimal (4 sub-awards including a Intertribal Agriculture Council sub-award dated February 2026 for a business builder program). Combined obligated dollars across the 207-award portfolio total $60.6 million, substantially exceeding the combined potential ceiling value of $82 thousand reported in the portfolio summary—a data anomaly suggesting the ceiling field does not reflect actual grant values. Discretionary project and formula grants dominate the footprint; no IDVs, GWACs, or agency-wide vehicles appear in the sourced record.