The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), an agency under the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), is seeking support from natural resource conservation partners to work together to help enhance conservation delivery in the State of Mississippi.
Donor Name: Natural Resources Conservation Service
State: Mississippi
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 06/24/2023
Size of the Grant: $1,000,000
Grant Duration: 5 years
Details:
Program Objectives
Conservation partners are invited to apply for NRCS assistance with projects focused on the following key conservation objectives:
- Climate Smart Agriculture: To provide technical assistance, outreach and education to landowners on innovative ways to assist with transforming agri‐food systems towards climate resilient practices. Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) is an integrated approach to managing cropland, pastureland, forestland, and fisheries that address the challenges of food security and climate change. It aims to tackle three main objectives: sustainably increasing agricultural productivity and incomes; adapting and building resilience to climate change; and reducing and/or removing greenhouse gas emissions, across Mississippi; determine key partners and other potential target audiences that share the Climate Smart mission and determine the impact of current outreach/educational efforts.‐ Provide technical assistance/training to employees in the national watershed program across Mississippi. This would include educating new employees on the Emergency Watershed Programs, Watershed Rehab Program and working project sponsors to properly assist landscape to determine the technical resources needed in eligible communities.
- Easement Program Technical Assistance: Provide technical assistance to private landowners seeking to participate in NRCS easement programs, such as the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program‐Wetland Reserve Easements (ACEP‐WRE). Added staff capacity will provide technical assistance addressing critical conservation needs such as, but not limited to, program education and outreach, servicing applications‐eligibility and ranking, development of wetland restoration plans, easement acquisition services including title and closing service and survey procurement and review, easement management and follow‐up, assisting with assessment and development of compatible use authorizations, and easement monitoring.
- Conservation Outreach: Promote public awareness of NRCS programs such as soil health, sustainable agricultural practices and best forestry management conservation practices and increase participation in NRCS programs and services by socially disadvantaged, limited resource, women, veterans and beginning farmers and ranchers in Mississippi.
- Organic and Specialty Workshops: Provide learning opportunities to educate agricultural producers who are following or considering the use of organics or transitioning to organic cropping systems for vegetables, fruits, specialty crops, produce and non‐traditional agricultural production efforts in Mississippi. Examples include: promotion and expansion of field‐to‐market efforts; voluntary landowner supported efforts to educate producers about implementation of organic farming techniques and improve understanding of organic labeling, marketing and production benefits.
Proposed projects must be performed in the state of Mississippi.
Funding Information
- Estimated Total Program Funding: $5,000,000
- Award Ceiling: $1,000,000
- Award Floor: $50,000
- Period of Performance: Projects may be between one (1) and five (5) years in duration.
Eligibility Criteria
- Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
- Small businesses
- Public and State controlled institutions of higher education
- Special district governments
- Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)
- County governments
- Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
- Private institutions of higher education
- State governments
- City or township governments
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
