Deadline: 29-Jun-2024
The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), an agency under the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is announcing availability of grants for the purpose of leveraging NRCS resources to assist the agency with conducting and implementing important conservation whole farm planning on multiple private landowner properties throughout Southeastern Massachusetts.
NRCS recognizes the importance of expanding conservation efforts including irrigation, erosion control, integrated pest management, nutrient management and forestry efforts in Southeastern Massachusetts and the beneficial outcomes it can have on the environment. The agreement holder will also be responsible for providing training to NRCS staff and affiliates as well as customer outreach.
The primary goal is to expand conservation planning to NRCS customers throughout Southeastern Massachusetts. The project list ranges in size from less than 1-acre farms to several hundred-acre farms. Applicants will identify the average number of conservation site visits and written whole farm conservation plans that they could complete in any year with a minimum of fifteen per year being acceptable for this agreement. NRCS will work with the selected applicant to make the choice of priority conservation site visits each year of the agreement based on interest and need. Applicants will be required to hold 1-2 conservation focused trainings per year for NRCS staff and partners to expand their technical knowledge. Eligible applicants include: all domestic applicants. Neither foreign entities nor individuals are eligible to apply for this opportunity. Applicants should be familiar with all applicable state, federal, local laws, policies, and regulations that apply to conservation improvements in the locales of Massachusetts.
Currently, NRCS has been implementing several mechanisms to conduct conservation planning in Southeastern Massachusetts. NRCS Massachusetts would like to expand the customer reach with targeted outreach efforts through this agreement and increase program applications that include irrigation, erosion control, integrated pest management, nutrient management, forestry and wetland restoration opportunities and efforts and the beneficial outcomes they can have on the environment. The agreement holder will also be responsible for providing training to NRCS staff and affiliates.
The purpose of this opportunity is to obtain services from a partner organization to expand whole farm conservation planning services in Southeastern Massachusetts. The agreement holder will perform a minimum of fifteen site visits each year of the agreement to private landowners throughout Southeastern Massachusetts to assist them on conservation technical assistance that includes writing and implementing on-site conservation plans. Those site visits should lead to 15 new NRCS program applications per year. To expand NRCS staff knowledge on conservation whole farm planning and further increase customer technical assistance in Massachusetts the agreement holder should also hold 1-2 trainings per year for NRCS staff and affiliates to learn conservation practice standards adoption techniques.
Objectives
- Specific objectives for the agreement include:
- Hire/identify with NRCS approval a conservation planning technical specialist who will assist private landowners through NRCS programs by writing and implementing whole farm conservation plans, conducting site visits, and having a minimum of 15 NRCS program applications per year come out of the conservation planning technical specialists work in the agreement. NRCS will work with agreement holder on prioritizing site visits if there is more interest than availability of the conservation planning technical specialist.
- The conservation planning technical specialist will work with local NRCS field offices to maintain communication on what customers they are working with on whole farm conservation planning and will inform them and invite them to participate in any customer site visits. Conservation planning technical specialists will send after visit summaries and conservation plans to local NRCS field offices after site visits.
- Conservation planning technical specialists are responsible for performing outreach to secure new NRCS customers. NRCS can also forward customers to conservation planning technical specialists for technical assistance.
- Whole farm conservation Plans must be developed and implemented to meet all applicable NRCS policies and requirements including applicable Conservation Practice Standards, Design and Implementation Activities (DIAs), and Conservation Evaluation and Monitoring Activities (CEMAs).
- The agreement holder must conduct 1-2 conservation technical hands-on field trainings for NRCS staff and associates per year in the agreement. The agreement holder will work with NRCS to approve training topic, location, and agenda.
Funding Information
- Estimated Funding: The Federal funding agency expects to award approximately $400,000 through this opportunity. However, the agency retains the discretion to award a larger or lesser amount.
- Award Ceiling: $400,000
- Award Floor: $200,000
- Start Dates and Performance Periods: Projects may be up to 5 years in duration. Applicants should plan their projects based on an estimated project start date of September 2024.
- Number of Awards: The agency expects to make 1 award.
Eligibility Criteria
- Applicants and applications must meet eligibility criteria by the application deadline to be considered for award. Eligible applicant type is determined by the implementing program statute. Applicant entities identified in the SAM.gov exclusions database as ineligible, prohibited/restricted, or excluded from receiving Federal contracts and certain Federal assistance and benefits will not be considered for Federal funding, as applicable to the funding being requested under this Federal program (2 CFR 200.206(d)). Neither foreign entities nor individuals are eligible to apply for this opportunity.
- This opportunity is open to all domestic applicants.
- Proposed projects must be performed in Massachusetts.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.