Conservation Innovation Grants announced

HONOLULU—Do you have an innovative conservation approach or technology that other farmers and ranchers in the islands might adopt?
The Natural Resources Conservation Service, an agency under the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is announcing availability of Conservation Innovation Grants to stimulate the development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies. Applications will be accepted from the Pacific Islands Area including: Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.


“CIG funds projects targeting innovative on-the-ground conservation, including pilot projects and field demonstrations,” said Christine Clarke, acting director for the NRCS Pacific Islands Area. “We encourage all eligible applicants to submit pre-proposals before April 30, 2014.”

The purpose of CIG is to stimulate the development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies, while leveraging the Federal investment in environmental enhancement and protection in conjunction with agricultural production. CIG projects are expected to lead to the transfer of conservation technologies, management systems, and innovative approaches into NRCS policy, technical manuals, guides, and references, or to the private sector. CIG does not fund research projects and projects intended to test hypotheses. Such projects do not qualify for a CIG award. CIG is used to apply or demonstrate previously proven technology. It is a vehicle to stimulate development and adoption of conservation approaches or technologies that have been studied sufficiently to indicate a high likelihood of success, and that are candidates for eventual technology transfer or institutionalization. CIG promotes sharing of skills, knowledge, technologies, and facilities among communities, governments, and other institutions to ensure that scientific and technological developments are accessible to a wider range of users.

To be eligible for CIG, projects must involve landowners who meet the Environmental Quality Incentives Program eligibility requirements set forth in http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCODE-2010-title16/html/USCODE-2010-title16-chap58-subchapIV-partIV-sec3839aa-1.htm. Additional information regarding EQIP eligibility requirements can be found at:  http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/national/programs/financial/eqip.  Participating producers are not required to have an EQIP contract.

All Office of Management and Budget standard forms necessary for CIG submission are posted at:  www.Grants.gov – Forms Repository. Applications for the pre-proposal phase must be received by NRCS before 4pm Hawaii Standard Time on April 30, 2014. NRCS will announce selected pre-proposal applications by May 30, 2014.  Selected applicants will then be required to submit a full proposal package to NRCS by 4pm HST on June 30, 2014.

To submit your application electronically, visit Grants.gov-Apply for Grants and follow the instructions. Applicants may also submit applications to the e-mail address below. All applicants who submit electronically are strongly encouraged, but not required to ALSO submit a paper copy to ensure that any potential problems with the electronic submission system do not negatively impact any applications. The address for submitting an application by e-mail is jessica.newpher@hi.usda.gov or jessica.mcarthur@hi.usda.gov.

The address for mailing an application is:

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
Jessica (Newpher) McArthur, CIG Program Manager
P.O. Box 50004
300 Ala Moana Boulevard, Room 4-118
Honolulu, HI 96850

Complete details regarding this announcement for CIG funding opportunity can be found on the following web sites: www.grants.gov and http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/pia/programs/financial/cig. To learn more about us, visit www.pia.nrcs.usda.gov. (USDA)