US: New Jersey NRCS Urban Conservation Grants

Deadline: 17-Jun-22

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), an agency under the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), has announced the potential availability of funding for the purpose of leveraging NRCS resources to encourage collaboration with partners in providing strategic conservation delivery assistance and/or provide tools or data that enhance the ability of the agency to support conservation activities.

The New Jersey NRCS Urban Conservation Project will provide technical and financial assistance to eligible entities to implement natural resources conservation practices such as low tunnels, high tunnels, composting facilities, micro irrigation systems, rainwater harvesting, raised beds, build pollinator habitats, urban trees (orchards) and establish gardens for food production..

Objectives

Eligible entities are invited to apply for NRCS assistance with the following key conservation objectives:

Provide conservation learning experiences to urban communities.
Address concerns regarding food deserts.
Improve access to healthy, affordable food at the local level.
Create urban gardening projects that develop urban properties into
Sustainable production sites for fruits and vegetables.
Leverage non-federal resources to achieve positive natural resource conservation outcomes.
Build and develop healthy and vibrant pollinator habitat.
Provide a method to follow-up with the historically underserved producers to measure rate of success of their participation in both technical and financial assistance by NRCS staff.
Describe the relationship between the applicant and urban and small acreage producers, community gardens, and/or communities addressing food insecurity through farming and education.
Provide outreach to increase participation among historically underserved farmers and ranchers in NRCS conservation programs and services.
Clearly identify how and why the intended groups and geographic area were selected.
Describe the relationship between the applicant and urban and small acreage producers, community gardens, and/or communities addressing food insecurity through farming and education.

Funding Information

Estimated Total Program Funding: $250,000
Award Ceiling: $25,000
Award Floor: $5,000

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility for this opportunity is limited to the following entity types:

City or township governments
county governments
Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)
Native American tribal organizations (other than federally recognized tribal governments)
Nonprofits having a 501(c) (3) status with the IRS (other than institutions of higher education)
Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c) (3) status with the IRS (other than institutions of higher education)
Private institutions of higher education
Public and State-controlled institutions of higher education
Special district governments
State governments.