The USDA NRCS Minnesota is offering this Cooperative Agreement grant for Natural Resource Conservation, Grazing, and Remote Sensing Initiatives.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), an agency under the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), is announcing potential availability of cooperative agreements for the purpose of leveraging NRCS resources, addressing local natural resource issues, encouraging collaboration and developing state- and community-level conservation leadership. Applications will only be accepted for the following initiatives:

Grazing and Livestock Assistance

• Provide grazing and livestock specialist expertise to promote use of livestock as a management tool and assist customers in managing grazing systems to improve conservation
• Provide grazing trainings, workshops, tours, and demonstration projects for NRCS customers and facilitate a Working Effectively with Livestock Producers Course for NRCS employees and partners
• Outcomes Shown – Environmental and Economic impacts of grazing systems related to soil health, wildlife habitat and other resource concerns
• Develop promotional and technical materials related to grazing management, livestock, and grasslands

(NEW) Remote Sensing for CRP Status Reviews, Compliance Status Reviews and Easement Monitoring

• Using drones or other forms of remote sensing for status reviews and monitoring

Applications containing proposals outside of the scope of the above initiatives will not be considered.

NRCS anticipates that the amount available for support of this program in FY 2020 will be $2,000,000. Minimum/Maximum individual award amounts are anticipated to be $100,000/$1,000,000. Proposals are requested from Federally recognized tribal governments, State and local governments, nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS (other than institutions of higher education), and institutions of higher education for competitive consideration of cooperative agreement awards for projects between 2 and 3 years in duration. This notice identifies the objectives, eligibility criteria, and application instructions for projects. Proposals will be screened for completeness and compliance with the provisions of this notice. Incomplete and/or noncompliant proposals will be eliminated from competition, and notification of elimination will be sent to the applicant.

Key Dates

Proposals must be received by 11:59 pm Eastern Time on June 17, 2020 via Grants.gov. Funding decisions will be made by the Minnesota NRCS State Conservationist, based on recommendations from a selection committee and the availability of funding in the programs whose CFDA numbers are listed above. Other key dates are:

Questions about NFO received by:              June 1, 2020

Responses to Questions published by:         June 8, 2020

Application Submission Due Date:               June 17, 2020

Application Review and Selection:               July 17, 2020

Anticipated Agreement Start Date:               September 1, 2020

For technical issues with Grants.gov, please contact Grants.gov Applicant Support at 1-800-518-4726 or support@grants.gov. Awarding agency staff cannot support applicants regarding Grants.gov accounts.

For more information, see the Full Announcement in the Related Documents tab of this opportunity.