Announcement for Program Funding for NRCS’ Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) for Federal fiscal year (FY) 2022 – Alaska | USDA NRCS AK CIG 22 NOFO0001148

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA NRCS AK CIG 22 NOFO0001148

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), through the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), is offering Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) funding for federal fiscal year 2022 specifically for projects carried out in Alaska. This funding opportunity is designed to stimulate the development, testing, and wider adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies. In practice, that means NRCS is looking for proposals that move beyond standard conservation practices by demonstrating new ideas, tools, methods, or strategies that can improve how natural resources are conserved and managed, with an emphasis on solutions that can be replicated or scaled for broader use.

For the Alaska State CIG competition in FY 2022, NRCS has up to $415,000 total available. The notice anticipates making about three awards, although the exact number can vary depending on proposal quality, requested budgets, and program decisions. Individual projects can run from one to three years in length, allowing applicants to propose anything from short-term pilots to multi-year demonstrations. The maximum federal award amount for any single project is $415,000, which effectively means one project could receive the entire allocation, though multiple smaller awards are also possible. The federal funding “floor” (minimum expected federal share per award) is $5,000, and the “ceiling” (maximum federal share per award) is $415,000. These floor and ceiling figures refer to the total federal share over the full agreement period, not a per-year amount.

Eligibility is broad. The opportunity is open to non-federal entities and individuals, with one clear exclusion: federal agencies are not eligible to apply. The announcement indicates that applicants should review the full announcement for the detailed eligibility language and any additional requirements or clarifications. Because the program is run through Grants.gov, applicants who are new to Grants.gov are pointed to the full announcement (specifically Section D in the related documents) for the steps needed to register and successfully submit, which can take time if an organization has not applied for federal funding before.

The key application deadline is April 11, 2022, with submissions due through Grants.gov by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time. The announcement is explicit that technical problems with Grants.gov should be directed to Grants.gov Applicant Support (1-800-518-4726 or support@grants.gov), and that NRCS awarding staff cannot troubleshoot Grants.gov account or submission issues. It also sets expectations around questions: applicants are asked to limit inquiries to clarifications about the notice itself (for example, dates, page references, or resolving inconsistencies) and not to ask for feedback about whether a specific organization is eligible or whether a particular project idea is competitive, since those types of questions will not be addressed.

To help applicants prepare, NRCS scheduled an applicant webinar for March 11, 2022 at 2:00 p.m. Alaska Standard Time, with participation details to be posted on the Grants.gov opportunity posting and the Alaska CIG website. Applicants are encouraged to review the Alaska State CIG website for more program context and state-specific information. In terms of the selection timeline, NRCS expected to make selections by June 30, 2022 and to execute awards by September 30, 2022, while noting that these dates are estimates and could change.

This opportunity is classified as discretionary funding and uses a grant as the funding instrument type. It falls under the agriculture, environment, and natural resources funding activity areas, and is associated with CFDA number 10.912. The funding is considered federal financial assistance, so applicants are encouraged to build familiarity with federal grants management expectations. The announcement recommends the free “Grants 101” training available through CFO.gov, which covers the legal and regulatory framework, types of financial assistance mechanisms, Uniform Guidance administrative requirements, cost principles, and risk management and single audit concepts. For full requirements, application components, and any state-specific priorities or evaluation criteria, applicants are directed to the complete NOFO package in the “Related Documents” section of the posting (opportunity number USDA NRCS AK CIG 22 NOFO0001148), which was created on February 9, 2022.

• The Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service in the agriculture, environment, natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Announcement for Program Funding for NRCS’ Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) for Federal fiscal year (FY) 2022 – Alaska" 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 Feb 09, 2022.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Applicants must submit their applications via Grants.gov by 1159 pm Eastern Time on April 11 2022.. (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 $415,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 3 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for USDA NRCS AK CIG 22 NOFO0001148

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