Conservation Partners is a collaborative effort between the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) (www.nrcs.usda.gov), the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) (www.nfwf.org) and other regional/initiative specific partners. The purpose of the partnership is to provide grants on a competitive basis to:
Added capacity provided via Conservation Partners will be directed toward:
Accelerated implementation of NRCS/NFWF initiatives and Farm Bill programs (such as WHIP, EQIP, and CRP within the 4 Program Priority Areas (PPAs) listed below
Incorporation of best available science in applying conservation practices and strategically focusing resources where the greatest conservation opportunities exist
Increased landowner awareness and participation in NRCS/NFWF initiatives and Farm Bill programs
Forms of Capacity Sought (include but are not limited to)
Expertise in comprehensive natural resource conservation planning
Discipline-specific expertise: aquatics, forestry, general ecology, rangeland ecology, wetlands, and wildlife
Resource-specific scientific expertise to support development of science-based tools, for example: wildlife habitat evaluation and management guidelines; best management practices to be used in association with NRCS conservation practice implementation (e.g. best management practices for the use of prescribed grazing for the management of native prairie for lesser prairie chickens)
Scientific expertise and experience to help facilitate integration of current scientific knowledge and technologies into NRCS/NFWF Conservation Initiatives
Technical expertise in developing methodologies to monitor, assess, evaluate and report on measurable resource conservation outcomes
Farm Bill program and marketing expertise outreach to improve landowners’ and customers’ understanding of Farm Bill programs and NRCS practices, standards and strategic initiatives as a means by which to increase landowner and partner participation
Grant Size
Typical grant awards will range from $50,000 to $250,000. Each Program Priority Area is expected to receive between $500,000 and $1,000,000 in funding.
Proposal Requirements
Project proposals must include a letter of commitment and support from the NRCS State Conservationist(s) from states in which the work will be conducted
Projects to be funded are for up to two years
Grantees will be required to identify performance and conservation targets, consistent with NRCS’s needs, against which progress will be measured and reported to NFWF
A match of at least 1:1 non-federal cash or in-kind is required, but larger match ratios are encouraged
Applicant Eligibility
Eligible applicants include: non-profit 501(c) organizations, educational institutions, tribal governments, and state or local units of governments (e.g. state conservation agencies, counties, townships, cities, conservation districts, utility districts, drainage districts, etc.). Individuals, federal government agencies and for-profit firms are not eligible for grants under this program
Conservation Reserve Program (CRP)
The CRP-focused grant proposals will be more competitive if they target counties with the highest expiring acres (see map 2012 and map 2013). Grantees should be aware that CRP must be tracked and reported separately. This distinction is necessary because CRP is administered by the Farm Services Agency while the other programs are administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
CRP proposals can be based in the Program Priority Areas described below or they can be independent of those areas, but located in areas of high CRP participation.
Approximately $2.0 million in CRP-focused funding is available nationwide.
Program Priority Areas (PPAs)
A map of priority project areas can be accessed by clicking here. Priority for funding will be directed to proposals that target species and ecosystems of shared interest between NFWF and NRCS, including but not limited to the following:
Pacific Salmon Rivers
Conservation Partners will focus on the most vulnerable populations of salmonids in Pacific coast watersheds and strengthen those populations that are still robust. In order to improve water quality and habitat at the scale needed to reach these goals, Conservation Partners will encourage private landowners to sign-up and implement Farm Bill programs on their lands that can have measureable conservation outcomes for salmonids. Farm Bill technical assistance to help landowners identify potential and implement projects will receive high priority if they include the following:
Objectives:
Improve estuarine habitat, including shorelines and critical watersheds
Improve forest health and productivity for the benefit of salmon
Improve fish passage
Improve cold-water flows
Activities that will be implemented to meet these objectives include (but are not limited to) optimizing water use, exercising low-input integrated pest management practices and reducing nutrient runoff, using long-term soil conservation techniques, maintaining healthy riparian and in-stream habitat conditions, and contributing to overall habitat quality and productivity on the farm.
Fish and Wildlife Species of Interest:
Coho Salmon
Chinook Salmon
Summer chum
Steelhead
Specific Capacity Needs:
California Sierra Meadows and Bay Delta
The goal of this initiative is to address the critical water quantity, water quality, and mountain meadow restoration needs of the Sacramento – San Joaquin Bay-Delta and Sierra Nevadas in California. Three primary resource concerns for this initiative are: 1) water quantity (focused on water conservation on irrigated croplands, orchards, vineyards, and small grains); 2) water quality (focused on reduction of nutrients, salts, and sediments on irrigated croplands, orchards, vineyards, small grains and dairies); 3) habitat restoration needs (wetlands, fisheries and riparian dependent species). Expected outcomes of this initiative include: on-farm water savings; improved water quality; and restoration and protection of wetland, riparian and wet meadow habitat throughout the watershed.
Objectives:
Build organizational capacity in watersheds where restoration planning and implementation is limited by insufficient personnel
Work with ranching community, improve information and provide technical assistance for beneficial agricultural and conservation practices
Monitor and document ecological and biological responses to meadow restoration
Work with local and state agricultural organizations to promote grazing and agricultural practices as a part of the farm operations and conservation effort
Activities that will be implemented to meet the objectives include (but are not limited to) improving forest stands, designing and implementing grazing management plans, reducing nutrient runoff, using long-term soil conservation techniques, and maintaining healthy riparian, wetland and in-stream habitat conditions.
Fish and Wildlife Species of Interest:
Yosemite Toad, Mountain yellow-legged frog, Willow flycatcher, Sandhill Crane, Yellow warbler, Great Grey Owl, Eagle lake rainbow trout, Lahontan cutthroat trout, McCloud River redband trout, California and Little Kern golden trout.
Specific Capacity Needs:
Northern Great Plains
Conservation Partners will help landowners create and fund systems that maintain or improve soil health, keep water clean, reduce flooding, and provide essential wildlife habitat for abundant as well as threatened species. Land stewardship by tribes, ranchers and public agencies has ensured that there are still significant large intact native grasslands remaining in the Northern Great Plains. The opportunity for conservation of large tracts of native grasslands has highlighted the region on global prioritization maps for grassland conservation. The relatively intact nature of the region also brings opportunity for conservation to partner for working landscapes and to realize economic benefits from wildlife stewardship activities. Conservation Partners seeks to help interested partners integrate ranching practices, soil health, water quality and prairie/grassland restoration across the landscape ensuring that keystone species and ecological processes thrive and private landowners reap economic benefits from managing for wildlife.
Objectives:
Build local capacity to expand habitat protection and restoration;
Deliver conservation outcomes and benefit from ecological stewardship through private landowner cooperation;
Identify and direct incentive programs toward priority landscapes that will support species of conservation interest;
Maximize financial incentives for ecosystem-scale grassland conservation and restoration
Activities that will be implemented to meet the objectives include (but are not limited to) fencing removal and modification, native grassland enhancement and restoration, grazing management systems, conservation easements, signing up landowners for wildlife incentive programs, designing sustainable landscape plans and monitoring programs, monitoring wildlife response to restoration activities, conservation tillage practices, cover crops, abating conifer encroachment, and systems that support sustainable ranching.
Fish and Wildlife Species of Interest:
Pronghorn, black-tailed prairie dog, black-footed ferret, swift fox, sage grouse, Sprague’s pipit and other grassland birds
Specific Capacity Needs:
Additional funding for projects in southeastern New Mexico that will benefit the Lesser prairie-chicken is available through the Short Grass Prairie Stewardship Fund. Applicants with relevant proposals are encouraged to review funding requirements found at www.nfwf.org/shortgrassprairie/rfp. |
Lesser Prairie-Chicken
The goal of this initiative is to help farmers and ranchers enhance, restore and protect habitat for this sensitive and reclusive bird. Many of the conservation practices that promote healthy grazing lands are also productive for the Lesser prairie-chicken’s short grass prairie habitat: prescribed grazing, upland wildlife habitat management, brush management, prescribed burning, range plantings, and restoration and management of rare or declining habitats. By restoring and “connecting” large blocks of core grassland habitat, as well as the playa lakes and subsurface water that sustains those grasslands, high priority species such as prairie-chickens, waterbirds, shorebirds, waterfowl, raptors and land birds can again become a visible component of this arid ecosystem.
Objectives:
Restore and enhance core habitat areas for Lesser prairie-chickens and develop corridor connections between those areas to ensure viable, sustainable populations
Better leverage federal and state agricultural incentive funds for use in conservation of grasslands in priority areas
Provide technical assistance to private landowners to help ensure sustainable short grass prairie resources, including playa lakes and subsurface water supplies
Establish a means of assessing and monitoring grassland bird populations and relating population changes to causal factors
Fish and Wildlife Species of Interest:
Specific Capacity Needs:
Development of a monitoring, evaluation and assessment protocol, in coordination with the NRCS LPCI Science Advisor, to assess effectiveness of NRCS / NFWF initiative in achieving stated conservation objectives and outcomes
Working Lands for Wildlife
In addition to the 4 PPAs listed above, Conservation Partners will consider funding projects working with and on the Working Lands for Wildlife partnership program between NRCS and FWS. The Working Lands for Wildlife program is $33 million in financial assistance from NRCS’s Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program to combat the decline of seven specific wildlife species whose needs can be addressed through private landowner conservation that will also benefit other species with similar habitat needs.
A map of Working Lands for Wildlife’s priorities is here.
Through Working Lands for Wildlife, landowners can voluntarily participate in an incentive-based efforts to: Restore populations of declining wildlife species; Provide farmers, ranchers, and forest managers with regulatory certainty that conservation investments they make today will help sustain their operations over the long term; Strengthen and sustain rural economies by restoring and protecting the productive capacity of working lands.
Additional Awards
Conservation Partners has multiple funding cycles. Funding through Conservation Partners has previously been available through the RFPs for: Longleaf Pine Restoration Fund, Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund, Sustain our Great Lakes, Northeast Forests, Gulf Coast, Prairie Pothole and Upper Mississippi River Basin.
Criteria for Competitive Proposals
Proposals will be more competitive if they include:
Specific Conservation Activities and Metrics. During the online application in EasyGrants, applicants will be requested to supply Activities and Metrics for their proposals. These metrics typically relate to species outcomes, acres restored, jobs created, landowner outreach and other potential measurements. Because of the breadth of the Conservation Partners program, a finite list will not be provided in the drop down menu. Rather, applicants should toggle the “other” option and provide their own metrics. Quantifying not only the proposed conservation activities but the ultimate conservation outcomes is extremely important for the future effectiveness of Conservation Partners. A list of sample metrics is here for reference; applicants, however, are not limited to metrics from the sample sheet.
A thorough explanation of how the proposal relates to Conservation Partners’ program preferences for:
Activities that help conserve the species, habitats and ecosystems in the Program Priority Areas listed above
Measurable conservation outcomes linked to project activities (e.g., target bird population increases by X%)
Activities that advance the goals of the NRCS and/or of established regional, State and Federal conservation plans
Restoration/protection of habitats/species in, or adjacent to, existing protected areas
Provisions for ongoing management, maintenance and protection, as appropriate
Organizations with a proven capability in working successfully with private landowners
Matching contributions greater than the minimum of 1:1.
Matching Contributions
All grantees are required to provide a minimum 1:1 match of cash, contributed goods and services from non-federal sources or a mixture of both. The ratio of matching funds offered by the applicant is one factor considered during the competitive review process.
Matching funds may include cash, in-kind contributions of staff and volunteer time, work performed, materials and services donated, or other tangible contributions to the project objectives and outcomes. To be eligible, matching contributions must be:
Dedicated specifically for the project
Spent between the project start and end dates designated in the grant application
Voluntary in nature (mitigation, restitution, or other permit or court-ordered settlements are ineligible)
Applied only to the Conservation Partners grant and not to any other federal matching programs.
Project Duration
Projects should be completed within 2½ years following receipt of a grant agreement; each position will be funded up to 2 years. Project start and end dates should define the period during which all proposed work is accomplished, all requested funds are spent, and all matching funds are spent. A grant may support one part of a larger, longer project with multiple stages; that part of the project supported by the grant must be completed within the specified time frame.
Ineligible Uses of Funds
Funds granted under this program may not be used to support political advocacy, lobbying or litigation.
Grantees may not use grant funds to support ongoing efforts to comply with legal requirements (e.g. permit conditions, mitigation, settlement agreements) of any local, state or federal permit. Grant funds may be used, however, to support projects that enhance or improve upon existing baseline compliance efforts.
Grantees may only use grant funds for indirect costs if they meet the following conditions:
the grantee organization has a federally-approved indirect rate; and,
indirect costs do not exceed 15% of the total grant request (even when the federally-approved rate is greater than 15%).
Deadlines and Application Procedures
Pre-proposals must be submitted by 5:00 p.m. EST, June 18, 2012. Late applications will not be accepted. Only electronic pre-proposals submitted through the Foundation’s online application system (EasyGrants - www.nfwf.org/easygrants) will be considered.
Timeline
The anticipated timeline for this grant round is as follows:
May 17, 2012: A webinar to review the grant process, program goals and answer questions will be held from 11:00 am - 12:00 pm, EST. Registration information will become available at www.nfwf.org/conservationpartners June 18, 2012: Pre-proposals due
Late June, 2012: Full proposals invited
August 1, 2012: Full proposals due
Late summer 2012: Follow-up with applicants for additional information, as necessary
November 2012: Grants announced
To start an application, please click on the following link: http://www.nfwf.org/easygrants. New users to the system will be prompted to register before starting their application. Applications may be saved and returned to at a later time for completion and submission, up until the application deadline. It is imperative for Easygrants users to disable their browser’s pop-up blocker prior to beginning the application process.
The following link contains access to other useful information for applicants, including videos that demonstrate the Easygrants online system: http://www.nfwf.org/applicantinfo.
Prospective applicants may contact John Curry (john.curry@nfwf.org; 612-564-7285) before submitting a proposal.
Related Files
Back to Program Home
NFWF Guidance for Online Applications
Conservation Partners Map
NRCS Core Conservation Practices
List of NRCS State Conservationists