Conservation Innovation Grant | USDA NRCS RI CIG 17 01

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA NRCS RI CIG 17 01

The Conservation Innovation Grant (CIG) opportunity is a discretionary grant program run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), focused on Rhode Island applicants under funding opportunity number USDA NRCS RI CIG 17 01. Its central goal is to speed up the real-world use of innovative conservation approaches and technologies that protect natural resources while supporting agricultural production. In practice, the program is meant to help move promising conservation tools and methods from limited or early adoption into broader, scalable use by farmers, land managers, and conservation partners, while also leveraging federal conservation investments to generate measurable environmental benefits.

CIG is designed around application and demonstration rather than basic research. The program prioritizes projects that take conservation technologies, management systems, or newer approaches (including market-based systems) that are already proven in some form and then apply, pilot, or demonstrate them in on-the-ground conditions to increase adoption. A key expected outcome is technology transfer: successful methods should be positioned to move into NRCS technical manuals and guidance (so they can be more widely recommended and supported through NRCS programs) or be adopted by the private sector. The opportunity also emphasizes collaboration and knowledge-sharing, encouraging applicants to share skills, facilities, and expertise across communities, governments, and institutions so that conservation innovations become accessible to a wider range of users.

Project types supported by this grant typically include field demonstrations and pilot projects that show how a conservation strategy performs in real operating conditions. While the program generally does not fund research, it makes an exception for on-farm conservation research. In this context, on-farm conservation research is narrowly defined as a structured investigation that answers a specific conservation-related question using a statistically valid study design, conducted on farms using farm-scale equipment on farm fields. That means the work needs appropriate replication and statistical analysis, and it must remain tied to practical natural resource management innovation in conjunction with agricultural production rather than laboratory-style or purely academic research.

Awards can support single-year or multi-year projects, but project periods cannot exceed three years. The listed award ceiling is $75,000, and the opportunity indicates an expectation of around 50 awards. The program falls under CFDA number 10.912 and covers activity areas tied to agriculture, the environment, and natural resources.

Eligibility is broad and includes Indian tribes, state and local governments (including counties, cities/townships, and special districts), public and private institutions of higher education, federally recognized tribal governments, nonprofits with 501(c)(3) status (excluding IHEs where applicable), individuals, and for-profit organizations (including small businesses and other for-profits that are not small businesses). Proposals must come from eligible entities associated with Rhode Island under this specific notice.

The review process is structured and competitive. Applications are first screened for completeness and compliance; anything incomplete or noncompliant is removed from consideration and the applicant is notified. Complete proposals received by the deadline proceed to a technical peer review panel, which scores them using the proposal evaluation criteria referenced in the program instructions. After peer review, proposals and reviews move to the Rhode Island Review Board, which makes recommendations to the NRCS State Conservationist. The NRCS State Conservationist makes the final funding selections.

Key dates listed for this posting include a creation date of March 7, 2017 and an original closing date of April 14, 2017.

• The Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service in the agriculture, environment, natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Conservation Innovation Grant" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.912.
• This funding opportunity was created on Mar 07, 2017.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Apr 14, 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 $75,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 50 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, Individuals, For profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses.

Apply for USDA NRCS RI CIG 17 01

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