Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG)
 

The Conservation Innovation Grant program (CIG) is a voluntary program intended to stimulate the development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies for agriculture production. CIG promotes sharing of skills, knowledge, technologies, and facilities among communities, governments, and other institutions to ensure that scientific and technological developments are accessible to a wider range of users.  Under CIG, Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) funds are used to award competitive grants to  non-Federal governmental or non-governmental organizations, Tribes or individuals.

IDAHO COMPETITION:

The 2012 Idaho Conservation Innovation Grants has just been announced on Grants.gov.  Pre-proposals for the Idaho CIG are due March 9, 2012.  Pre-proposal applicants selected for funding consideration will be notified by April 13.  Invited proposals will be due May 11, 2012.  Priority topics for 2012 include nutrient management, energy conservation, soil health and wildlife.

Click here for more information on the FY12 Idaho CIG, and projects from previous years
 

The following document requires Adobe Acrobat.

Fiscal Year 2012 Idaho Announcement for Funding (PDF; 173 KB) 

NATIONAL COMPETITION: 

For FY 2012, NRCS will consider offering CIG in the following areas:

• Nutrient Management,
• Energy Conservation,
• Soil Health,
• Wildlife, and
• CIG Projects Assessment.

NRCS anticipates that the amount available for support of this program in FY 2012 will be approximately $20 million.  Applications are requested from eligible governmental or non-governmental organizations or individuals for competitive consideration of grant awards for projects between 1 and 3 years in duration.  Funds will be awarded through a two-phase nationwide competitive grants process that will include (1) a pre-proposal process and (2) a full proposal process.  The full proposal process will only be open to applicants whose pre-proposal applications are selected by NRCS.

Pre-proposal applications for the national Conservation Innovation Grant competition must be submitted to the National CIG office by January 31, 2012.

The announcement for program funding, as well as information on CIG, is available at the National CIG page: http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/national/programs/financial/cig.