Conservation Collaboration Cooperative Agreements Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 Announcement for Program Funding – NORTH DAKOTA | USDA NRCS ND MULTI 21 NOFO0001041

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA NRCS ND MULTI 21 NOFO0001041

The Conservation Collaboration Cooperative Agreements Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 opportunity for North Dakota is a discretionary funding announcement from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) designed to support locally driven conservation work through cooperative agreements. The central idea is to leverage NRCS resources alongside partner capacity to tackle natural resource concerns that matter at the state and community level, while also encouraging collaboration among organizations and building conservation leadership within North Dakota. Projects proposed under this notice must be located in North Dakota and are meant to respond to local conservation needs rather than operate as general research or unrelated program activities.

Funding is offered through cooperative agreements, which generally means NRCS expects to be substantially involved during the project period (for example, coordinating on technical approaches, providing guidance, or participating in implementation and oversight). Projects can run from 1 to 3 years, allowing applicants to propose either shorter, targeted efforts or multi-year initiatives that require more time to plan, implement, and document outcomes. While the notice emphasizes collaboration and leadership development, it is fundamentally an agriculture and natural resources conservation funding opportunity (CFDA 10.902) and is oriented toward practical, on-the-ground conservation partnerships.

Eligible applicants include Federally recognized tribal governments, state governments, local governments (including county, city, township or similar units), nonprofits with 501(c)(3) status (that are not institutions of higher education), and both public and private institutions of higher education. The program allows organizations to submit more than one application as long as each application is for a different project, and it also allows an organization to receive more than one award if multiple proposals are selected. That structure encourages applicants with diverse conservation priorities or multiple partnerships to put forward distinct project concepts rather than forcing everything into a single umbrella proposal.

Applications are competitively reviewed and must follow the notice requirements closely. NRCS will first screen submissions for completeness and compliance with the funding opportunity instructions. Proposals that are incomplete or do not meet the stated requirements will be removed from consideration, and the applicant will be notified. This makes basic grantsmanship and careful adherence to the required forms, narratives, and submission rules a key part of staying eligible for review.

Key dates and administrative details are clearly laid out. The funding opportunity number is USDA NRCS ND MULTI 21 NOFO0001041, and the announcement was created on January 18, 2021. Applications had to be submitted through Grants.gov and were due by 11:59 pm Eastern Time on March 1, 2021. Questions about the notice itself could be submitted up to February 10, 2021, with NRCS indicating that responses would be posted on Grants.gov about two weeks before the application deadline to help applicants prepare stronger and more compliant submissions. For technical problems tied specifically to Grants.gov (such as account or system issues), applicants were directed to Grants.gov Applicant Support at 1-800-518-4726 or support@grants.gov, with the important caveat that NRCS staff would not provide support for Grants.gov account troubleshooting.

In terms of anticipated funding scale, the announcement lists an award ceiling of $1,000,000 and an expectation of around 20 awards, suggesting NRCS planned to spread support across multiple projects rather than making only a small number of very large awards. NRCS anticipated making selections by May 1, 2021, and expected to execute awards by September 30, 2021, which aligns with typical federal timelines where selection decisions precede final award processing and agreement execution.

• The Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service in the agriculture sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Conservation Collaboration Cooperative Agreements Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 Announcement for Program Funding – NORTH DAKOTA" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 10.902.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jan 18, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Mar 01, 2021 Applications must be received by 1159 pm Eastern Time on March 1, 2021.. (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 $1,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 20 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township 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.

Apply for USDA NRCS ND MULTI 21 NOFO0001041

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