Maryland Conservation Innovation Grants | USDA NRCS MD CIG 1701

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA NRCS MD CIG 1701

The Maryland Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) opportunity, offered by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), is a competitive, discretionary grant program designed to speed up the real-world use of innovative conservation practices and technologies that also support agricultural production. The core idea is not to fund early-stage research, but to take conservation approaches that have already been proven or show strong promise and help move them into broader adoption through practical, on-the-ground demonstration. Projects are expected to generate results that can be incorporated into NRCS technical manuals and guides or transferred into the private sector, so the work has a clear pathway from a pilot effort to wider implementation.

CIG specifically emphasizes field-based innovation such as pilot projects and demonstrations that show how conservation systems work under farm conditions and how they can be scaled. The program also aims to strengthen collaboration and knowledge-sharing among communities, government entities, and other institutions, helping ensure that new conservation tools, methods, and systems are accessible to more users. While the program generally does not support research, it does allow on-farm conservation research when it is tightly defined and designed to answer a specific conservation question using statistically valid methods. That means the work must be conducted in real farm settings using farm-scale equipment, with enough replication and appropriate statistical analysis to produce credible conclusions. Even then, NRCS limits support to research that clearly advances innovative natural resource management alongside agricultural production.

Applications may propose single-year or multi-year projects, but the total project period cannot exceed three years. Eligibility is broad and includes federally recognized Tribal governments, state and local governments, nonprofits (including 501(c)(3) organizations), public and private institutions of higher education, individuals, and for-profit entities including small businesses. Proposals must come from eligible applicants in Maryland.

The selection process begins with an administrative screening to confirm that each proposal is complete and compliant with the notice requirements; incomplete or noncompliant submissions are removed from consideration and applicants are notified. Proposals that pass screening are then evaluated by a Technical Review Panel using published evaluation criteria (referenced in the solicitation instructions). The panel makes recommendations to the NRCS State Conservationist, who makes the final award selections.

For this specific opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number: USDA NRCS MD CIG 1701; CFDA: 10.912), awards were grants with an expected maximum (ceiling) of $75,000 per award, with roughly 10 awards anticipated. The original closing date listed for applications was May 12, 2017. The program sits at the intersection of agriculture, environment, and natural resources, and is best suited for applicants ready to demonstrate and expand practical conservation solutions rather than conduct basic or exploratory research.

• The Natural Resources Conservation Service in the agriculture, environment, natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Maryland Conservation Innovation Grants" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.912.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2017-04-05.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2017-05-12. (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 $75,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 10 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), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, Individuals, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses.

Apply for USDA NRCS MD CIG 1701

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: