Two USDA NRCS Funding Opportunities Available for Easement Restoration and State Conservation Innovation Grants

Easement Restoration Funding:  NRCS is requesting proposals from qualified individuals and organizations to complete restoration work on eligible degraded wetland, floodplain and forestland properties. Up to $250 million is available for these restoration projects in all 50 states and territories. Restoration activities may include: designing restoration plans, installing conservation practices including structural and vegetative, construction management and inspection. Agreements will be three years in length. Potential applicants should review the funding opportunity, USDA-NRCS-US-WRP-ACEP- EWPP-HFRP-18-01, at https://www.grants.gov/, which includes application materials and submission procedures. Applications are due by May 18, 2018. For more information on wetland, floodplain and forestland easements, visit the NRCS easements page. See the full announcement here USDA-NRCS-US-WRP-ACEP-EWPP-HFRP-18-01.

State Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG):  The NRCS CIG offers both national and state grant competitions. The national competition closed in late February but in 2018, twenty states are offering CIG funding opportunities and many state competitions are still open. These state CIG competitions target small projects (maximum award size is $75,000) that address natural resource concerns (including drinking water quality) at a local or state level. The following states and territories currently have opportunities posted on Grants.gov LA, OR, MD, MI, MO, VA, AZ, ME, CA, ID, KS, SD, PA, GA, NM, RI, NY, IA, OK, the Pacific Island Area and the Caribbean Area. For more information on any of these competitions, please contact the relevant NRCS state office.