The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is seeking applications for its Conservation Technical Assistance: Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative Cooperative Agreements.
Donor Name: Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
State: All States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 05/26/2024
Size of the Grant: $500,000 to $1 million
Grant Duration: 4 Years
Details:
The goals and objectives of this program are:
- Increase acreage across the nation in managed grazing that addresses natural resource concerns.
- Increase availability of climate smart grazing land technical assistance for farmers and ranchers, historically underserved farmers and ranchers and Native American tribal governments.
- Expand and establish new grazing networks and direct financial support for mentors working with new, beginning, or transitioning farmers and ranchers engaged in grazing activities.
- Expand the grazing community to include minority producers, and associated institutions such as 1890, 1994, and Hispanic serving Land Grant Institutions.
- Recruit to ensure strong participation by minority producers in new and existing grazing coalitions.
Eligible Activities for the GLCI Cooperative Agreements include:
- Technical assistance
- Write and implement grazing plans.
- Demonstrate innovation and grazing technologies.
- Education (Conferences, workshops, webinars, and other educational events).
- Grazing networks (field days, pasture walks, peer-to-peer knowledge exchange, mentorship).
- NRCS Workforce Development, including mentorship, training, and apprenticeship arrangements.
- Youth outreach related to grazing land management may be included to supplement producer outreach.
- A limited amount of funds in each region may be used to conduct on-farm research as a supplemental goal for any projects conducting the above activities.
Projects are to identify and remove barriers to accessing grazing information and programs and reach historically underserved groups through a combination of outreach and technical assistance in managing grasslands that address the following NRCS priority areas:
- Addressing local natural resource concerns.
- Utilizing Climate Smart Agriculture and Forestry practices and principles.
- Encouraging existing and new partnerships to advance the resource needs of underserved communities.
- Identifying and implementing innovative strategies to quantify, monitor, report on and verify conservation benefits associated with grazing management systems.
- Utilizing Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge (ITEK), where applicable. (e.g. bison management and restoration efforts with the goal/outcome/deliverable of adding the methods or practices to NRCS suite of tools).
Funding Information
- The Federal funding agency expects to award approximately $12 million.
- A total of $14,000,000 will be made available with a funding ceiling of $1,000,000 and a funding floor of $350,000 for three or four-year agreements.
- A total of $8,000,000 will be made available with a funding ceiling of $300,000 and a funding floor of $100,000 for one or two-year agreements.
Project Period
Projects may be between one and four years in duration.
Eligibility Criteria
Eligibility for this opportunity is limited to single individuals or the following entity types based in any of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Caribbean Area (Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands), and the Pacific Islands Area (Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands). Entity types that may meet these criteria include the following:
- Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)
- Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments)
- Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS (other than institutions of higher education)
- Farmer or rancher organizations
- State and local conservation governmental agencies
- Agricultural Extension Services
- Land grant universities including 1890 or 1994 land grant institution (7 U.S.C. 3222 et seq.), Hispanic-serving institution (20 U.S.C. 1101a), or other minority-serving institution, such as an historically Black college or university (20 U.S.C. 1061), a tribally controlled college or university (25 U.S.C. 1801), or Asian American and Pacific Islander-serving institution (20 U.S.C. 1059g).
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
