South Carolina Conservation Innovation Grants | USDA NRCS SC CIG 17 01

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA NRCS SC CIG 17 01

The South Carolina Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) opportunity is a discretionary grant program run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), aimed at speeding up the real-world use of innovative conservation practices and technologies that also support agricultural production. The central goal is not to fund basic research, but to help proven or emerging conservation solutions get adopted more widely through on-the-ground work. Projects are expected to show how practical conservation approaches can be implemented, expanded, and ultimately transferred into NRCS technical manuals and guidance, or adopted by the private sector. This includes not only new tools and management systems, but also innovative approaches such as market-based strategies that encourage conservation.

CIG is designed around demonstration and application. The program emphasizes pilot projects and field demonstrations that take something already shown to work and prove it at a scale and in conditions that make it easier for farmers, land managers, and partners to adopt. While research is generally not supported, the program makes a narrow exception for on-farm conservation research. That type of research must be conducted on working farms using farm-scale equipment and a statistically valid study design, meaning it needs adequate replication and appropriate statistical analysis to answer a clearly defined conservation question. Even then, any research supported through CIG must directly stimulate innovative natural resource management in an agricultural setting, rather than serve as a general scientific study.

Projects may be single-year or multi-year, but they cannot exceed three years in length. The competition is limited to proposals submitted by eligible entities from South Carolina. Eligible applicants are broad and include federally recognized Tribal governments, state and local governments (including counties, cities/townships, and special districts), public and private institutions of higher education, nonprofits with 501(c)(3) status (other than universities), individuals, for-profit organizations (including small businesses and other than small businesses), and certain public/state-controlled colleges and universities. The funding activity areas are agriculture, environment, and natural resources, and the assistance listing (CFDA) number is 10.912.

For this specific funding notice (Funding Opportunity Number USDA NRCS SC CIG 17 01), the maximum award amount is $75,000, and NRCS anticipated making about 10 awards. The opportunity originally opened around mid-March 2017 (creation date March 14, 2017) with an original closing date of April 28, 2017.

The selection process is structured and competitive. NRCS first screens applications for completeness and compliance with the notice requirements; proposals that are incomplete or do not follow the rules are removed from consideration, and applicants are notified of the elimination. Proposals that pass this initial screening are reviewed by a technical peer review panel using the evaluation criteria described in the program instructions (referenced as Section V.B in the notice). After technical review, proposals and the associated panel feedback are sent to the South Carolina Review Board, which makes recommendations to the NRCS State Conservationist in South Carolina. The State Conservationist makes the final funding selections.

In practical terms, strong applications for this program are those that clearly focus on measurable, on-the-ground conservation outcomes, demonstrate how the project will increase adoption or scaling of a proven approach, and show a credible path for the results to be shared and used by others (including integration into NRCS guidance or broader private-sector uptake).

• The Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service in the agriculture, environment, natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "South Carolina Conservation Innovation Grants" 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 14, 2017.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Apr 28, 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 10 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 SC CIG 17 01

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: