Conservation Collaboration Grants Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 Announcement for Program

The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), an agency under the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), is announcing potential availability of grants for the purpose of leveraging NRCS resources, addressing local natural resource issues, encouraging collaboration and developing state- and community-level conservation leadership. Proposals will be accepted from South Dakota. NRCS anticipates that the amount available for support of this program in FY 2017 will be up to $2,500,000. Proposals are requested from eligible governmental or non-governmental organizations, and institutions of higher learning for competitive consideration of grant awards for projects between 1 and 3 years in duration. This notice identifies the objectives, eligibility criteria, and application instructions for projects. Proposals will be screened for completeness and compliance with the provisions of this notice. Incomplete and/or noncompliant proposals will be eliminated from competition, and notification of elimination will be sent to the applicant. DATES: Proposals may be submitted to NRCS at any time between the posting of this announcement and May 26, 2017. Proposals in the possession of NRCS will be scored as they are received and, if eligible, added to a ranking list of projects for funding consideration throughout FY2017. Funding decisions will be made by the NRCS South Dakota State Conservationist, informed by the ranking list and the availability of funding in the programs whose CFDA numbers are listed above.