The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced that Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) are once again available through the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). These grants are available to livestock facilities, including horse farms, ranches and other equine operations.

CIG is a voluntary program intended to stimulate innovative conservation projects in conjunction with agricultural production. CIG enables the Naturla Resources Conservation Service to work with public and private entities to promote the use of promising technologies in order to address some of the Nation’s most pressing natural resource concerns.

The American Horse Council encourages horse owners and organizations to explore the availability of these federal grants. They could be very helpful to equine facilities.

Under CIG, Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) funds are used by NRCS to award grants to individuals, organizations and state governments. In 2004, 150 applications were submitted and 40 applicants were approved. Examples of last year’s CIG awardees include farmers who implemented solar energy technology on their land, state universities optimizing water conservation programs, and land-based training associations involved in erosion prevention. There were several applications from equine entities submitted, although none received grants.

Applications are evaluated and scored against criteria in the Request for Proposals. At least 50% of the total cost of the project must come from funds provided by the grantee. NRCS has set aside up to 10% of National CIG funds for underrepresented or underserved producers.

CIG has three components available in the 2005 fiscal year: 1) National competition with up to $15 million available, 2) State competition piloted in 12 states and the Pacific Big Basin area, and 3) Chesapeake Bay watershed competition with up to $5 million available for this special solicitation.

Proposals for CIG are due March 28, 2005. Applications must include Standard Form 424 as the cover sheet for each project proposal, along with a project description. CIG applications must also include a letter of review from the appropriate NRCS State Conservationist.

For more information on CIG and the grant application process, please see the NRCS website at www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/cig and review the “2005 Grant Application materials” section.~~~