Tennessee NRCS Urban Conservation Project | USDA NRCS TN CTA 21 NOFO0001086

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA NRCS TN CTA 21 NOFO0001086

The Tennessee NRCS Urban Conservation Project is a competitive federal grant opportunity offered by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to strengthen conservation work in Tennessee through partnerships. The program is designed to leverage NRCS resources by funding outside partners who can help deliver conservation assistance on the ground and/or develop tools, datasets, or other support resources that improve NRCS capacity to plan, target, and implement conservation activities. In practical terms, the solicitation is looking for projects that help advance the key conservation objectives and priorities identified by NRCS in the funding announcement, especially where collaboration and added delivery capacity will lead to clearer results.

Funding is expected to total about $150,000 for federal fiscal year 2021, with NRCS anticipating roughly 20 awards. The maximum award amount listed is $10,000 per project. Projects may run for one to three years, allowing applicants to propose either shorter pilot efforts or multi-year work plans that build capacity over time. Awards will be made as grants under a discretionary funding announcement, and the program falls under CFDA 10.902, which covers NRCS conservation technical assistance-related efforts.

Eligible applicants are broadly defined and include local governments and a range of nonprofit and educational institutions. Specifically, eligible entity types include city or township governments, county governments, special district governments, state governments, public and state-controlled institutions of higher education, private institutions of higher education, federally recognized Native American tribal governments, other Native American tribal organizations, and nonprofits both with and without 501(c)(3) status (as long as they are not institutions of higher education). The announcement also emphasizes interest in proposals from local Conservation Districts, nonprofit organizations, non-government organizations, and institutions of higher learning, reflecting NRCSs goal of building practical partnerships that can deliver conservation outcomes efficiently.

Applications had to be submitted through Grants.gov, with a deadline of 11:59 pm Eastern Time on June 7, 2021. Applicants needing help with the Grants.gov system were directed to contact Grants.gov support rather than NRCS program staff, since agency staff cannot troubleshoot Grants.gov account or platform issues. Questions about the notice of funding opportunity itself could be submitted through May 5, 2021, and NRCS planned to post responses on Grants.gov about two weeks before the application deadline to ensure all applicants had access to the same clarifications.

NRCS indicated it expected to make project selections by June 30, 2021, and to execute awards by September 15, 2021. Overall, the opportunity is structured as a small-grant, partnership-driven program meant to expand NRCS reach in Tennessee by supporting local and regional partners who can provide conservation delivery assistance or develop tools and information that help NRCS prioritize and support conservation work more effectively.

• The Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service in the agriculture, environment, natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Tennessee NRCS Urban Conservation Project" 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 Apr 06, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 07, 2021 Applications must be received y 1159 pm Eastern Time.. (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 $10,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 20 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), Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education.

Apply for USDA NRCS TN CTA 21 NOFO0001086

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