Conservation partnership project grant applications due April 5

USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service is seeking proposals for collaborative conservation grants to help address Delaware’s most pressing natural resource concerns. Up to $500,000 in grants will be made available statewide. Proposals are due by Friday, April 5.

Delaware NRCS will select proposals that leverage USDA and partner resources to effectively implement projects. Successful proposals will address at least one of the following: increase the number of applications for USDA NRCS Agriculture Conservation Easement Program – Wetland Reserve Easements; deliver detailed data on the physical and chemical properties of subaqueous soil and their spatial distribution throughout Little Assawoman Bay in Sussex County; complete cultural resource reviews for the completion of Cultural Resources Archival Research and Identification Surveys; increase the amount of direct technical services to help producers plan and/or implement conservation practices throughout Delaware; develop the tools, technologies, and strategies to support innovative conservation efforts on working lands in Delaware and develop market-based solutions to resource challenges; or conduct an economic analysis on the benefits and cost of high-priority best management practices in Delaware such as nutrient management, manure storage, animal mortality, cover crop, heavy-use area protection and others.

An emphasis will be placed on projects that build upon the technical capacity of NRCS and partner field conservation employees and leverage non-federal and non-government resources to achieve positive natural resources conservation outcomes. 

For more information or to view the full funding announcement, go to www.grants.gov and search the opportunity number USDA-NRCS-DE-19-01 or contact Eileen Campbell at 302-678-4161.