Minnesota Fiscal Year (FY) 20 Cooperative Agreement Notice of Funding Opportunity | USDA NRCS MN MULTI 20 NOFO0001011

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA NRCS MN MULTI 20 NOFO0001011

The Minnesota Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 Cooperative Agreement Notice of Funding Opportunity is a discretionary funding announcement from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) focused on partnering with outside organizations to stretch NRCS resources, tackle local natural resource concerns, strengthen collaboration, and build conservation leadership across Minnesota at the state and community level. Funding is provided through cooperative agreements, meaning NRCS expects to be actively involved with recipients during the life of the project rather than simply issuing a hands-off grant.

NRCS will only consider applications that fit within two specific initiative areas. The first is Grazing and Livestock Assistance, which centers on providing grazing and livestock specialist expertise to help producers use livestock intentionally as a conservation management tool and to improve grazing systems in ways that benefit natural resources. Under this initiative, proposed work can include organizing and delivering grazing-related trainings, workshops, tours, and demonstration projects for NRCS customers, and also facilitating a "Working Effectively with Livestock Producers" course aimed at NRCS employees and partners. The initiative also emphasizes documenting and communicating outcomes, particularly environmental and economic impacts of grazing systems as they relate to soil health, wildlife habitat, and other resource concerns. Applicants may also propose developing promotional and technical materials tied to grazing management, livestock, and grassland stewardship.

The second initiative is a newer focus area: Remote Sensing for CRP Status Reviews, Compliance Status Reviews, and Easement Monitoring. This supports the use of drones or other remote sensing technologies to conduct status reviews and monitoring activities associated with conservation programs and easements. Proposals that fall outside these two defined scopes will not be reviewed or considered for funding, so applicants need to align their objectives, activities, and deliverables directly with one of these tracks.

For FY 2020, NRCS anticipates approximately $2,000,000 total available to support this program, with individual awards expected to range from $100,000 to $1,000,000. NRCS expects to make about three awards. Project periods are intended to run for 2 to 3 years, which gives applicants room to plan multi-season field work, trainings, monitoring cycles, and product development.

Eligible applicants include federally recognized tribal governments; state governments; local governments (including county, city, township, and special district governments); public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; and nonprofits with IRS 501(c)(3) status (with the notice specifying nonprofits other than institutions of higher education). Applications will be screened first for completeness and compliance with the notice requirements; submissions that are incomplete or do not follow the rules laid out in the announcement are removed from competition and the applicant is notified.

The application had to be submitted through Grants.gov, with a deadline of 11:59 pm Eastern Time on June 17, 2020. Questions about the funding opportunity were due by June 1, 2020, and NRCS planned to publish responses by June 8, 2020. The agency scheduled application review and selection by July 17, 2020, with an anticipated agreement start date of September 1, 2020. Final funding decisions are made by the Minnesota NRCS State Conservationist based on selection committee recommendations and the availability of funds under the listed CFDA number (10.902). For Grants.gov technical problems, applicants were directed to Grants.gov Applicant Support (1-800-518-4726 or support@grants.gov), since NRCS staff do not provide support for setting up or troubleshooting Grants.gov accounts.

• The Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service in the agriculture, environment, natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Minnesota Fiscal Year (FY) 20 Cooperative Agreement Notice of Funding Opportunity" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.902.
• This funding opportunity was created on May 18, 2020.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 17, 2020 Applications must be received by 1159 pm Eastern Time on June 17, 2020. (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 $1,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 3 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), Private institutions of higher education.

Apply for USDA NRCS MN MULTI 20 NOFO0001011

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