Vermont Conservation Innovation Grants | Apply Online

Opportunity Summary:

The Vermont Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) opportunity is a USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) competitive grant program designed to speed up the real-world adoption of innovative conservation practices and technologies that also support agricultural production. The core idea is not to fund early-stage experimentation for its own sake, but to take conservation approaches that have already been proven or shown to work and help move them into broader use through practical application, pilots, and field demonstrations. Projects are expected to produce results that can be carried forward into NRCS technical guidance (such as policy, manuals, references, and field guides) or be adopted by the private sector, including through innovative delivery models like market-based systems. A major emphasis is placed on scaling up emerging, proven strategies so that conservation improvements become accessible and replicable beyond a small set of initial participants.

CIG funding under this Vermont-specific notice supports on-the-ground conservation innovation, particularly projects that demonstrate or apply technology and management systems in ways that encourage wider adoption. Traditional research is generally not supported, with one important exception: on-farm conservation research. That type of research must be tightly defined and practical, aimed at answering a specific conservation question using a statistically valid study design. In practice, that means the work should be conducted under real farm conditions using farm-scale equipment on farm fields, and it needs appropriate replication and statistical analysis so the findings are credible and transferable. Even then, NRCS frames eligible research as research that directly stimulates innovative natural resource management in tandem with agricultural production, rather than basic or laboratory research.

The program accepts proposals for either single-year or multi-year projects, but the total project period cannot exceed three years. Applications must have a direct nexus to Vermont, and the project management team must include an entity based in Vermont, reinforcing that the work should be rooted in Vermont conditions, partners, and implementation capacity. Eligible applicants are broad and include federally recognized Tribal governments, state and local governments (including counties, cities/townships, and special districts), public and private institutions of higher education, nonprofits with 501(c)(3) status (other than higher education institutions), public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, individuals, and small businesses. This range is intended to encourage partnerships across sectors, such as collaborations between producers, conservation districts, nonprofits, universities, and technical service providers.

From an administration and selection standpoint, proposals first undergo an eligibility and compliance screening to confirm they are complete and follow the requirements in the notice. Applications that are incomplete or noncompliant are removed from consideration, and applicants are notified. Complete applications are then scored by a technical peer review panel using the evaluation criteria referenced in the notice instructions. After technical scoring, applications are forwarded to the Vermont State Conservationist, who makes the final award decisions. The State Conservationist also retains discretion not to fund some or all proposals, even if they are scored.

Key opportunity details from the posting include that it is a discretionary grant under CFDA (now Assistance Listing) 10.912, administered by USDA-NRCS. The funding activity areas are agriculture, environment, and natural resources. The award ceiling listed is $75,000, and the notice anticipated up to 30 awards. The opportunity referenced a closing date of June 3, 2016 (with the posting and creation dates of April 8, 2016), indicating this particular notice was tied to that application cycle, though the CIG program itself is typically offered in recurring rounds depending on appropriations and NRCS priorities.

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