Monday, January 9, 2012

$36.74 Million Newly Available through USDA Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative

USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) and announced the availability of Fiscal Year 2012 financial assistance in the amount of (up to) $11.74 million under the Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative (CCPI) and (up to) $25 million in the Wetlands Reserve Enhancement Program (WREP) through the Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative (MRBI). The $36.74 million is available for new MRBI proposals.  The funding availability announcement appeared in the January 3, 2012 Federal Register. All proposals must be received on or before March 19, 2012. 

According to the Federal Register announcement, NRCS will provide assistance to eligible participants in the 54 designated focus areas (8-digit hydrologic unit codes (HUCs)) in the following 13 States: Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee, South Dakota, and Wisconsin (click on the figure on the left to see an enlarged map of the focus areas). Proposals from potential partners are to be based on one or more 12-digit  HUCs within the 54 designated focus areas. Partners who are currently involved in approved MRBI agreements through CCPI or WREP and want to work in other 12-digit watersheds must submit new proposals for a new project.  The specific 8-digit HUC "Designated Focus Areas" for the MRBI in FY 2012 are listed in the Federal Register announcement.

For additional information about this RFP, interested parties should contact Deena Wheby, MRBI Coordinator, NRCS Conservation Initiatives Team, by telephone at 859-224-7403 or by e-mail at deena.wheby@ky.usda.gov.