New York - Conservation Innovation Grants

New York State Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), an agency under the United States Department of Agriculture, is announcing availability of Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) to stimulate the development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies. Applications are accepted for projects located entirely within the State of New York. NY NRCS anticipates that the amount available for support of this program in FY 2013 will be approximately $250,000. 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 competitive process that will include a pre-proposal application and review and a full proposal application and review. The full proposal process will only be open to applicants whose pre-proposal applications are selected by NRCS. Both phases are described in this announcement, but only pre-proposals are being solicited at this time. This notice identifies the objectives, eligibility criteria, and application instructions for CIG projects. Applications will be screened for completeness and compliance with the provisions of this notice. Incomplete applications will be eliminated from competition and notification of elimination will be mailed to the applicant. NRCS will request a full application package only from those applicants selected in the pre-proposal phase.