Easement Restoration and Stewardship
Open Posted
- Opportunity number
- USDA-NHQ-ACEP-26-NOFO0001456
- Agency
-
National Resources Conservation Service
Department of Agriculture
- Applications due
- Award size
- $250,000 to $5,000,000
Opportunity facts
- Assistance listings
- Funding instrument
- Cooperative Agreement
- Categories
-
- Agriculture
- Environment
- Natural Resources
- Eligible applicants
-
- Higher Education Inst. (Private)
- Tribal Governments (Federally Recognized)
- City/Township Governments
- Small Businesses
- State Governments
- Tribal Organizations (Not Federally Recognized)
- County Governments
- 501(c)(3) Nonprofits
- For Profit Organizations
- Special District Governments
- Non-501(c)(3) Nonprofits
- Higher Education Inst. (Public)
- Points of contact
-
- Tessa Garcia tessa.garcia@usda.gov
Opportunity details come from Grants.gov. Updated .
About this opportunity
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service is soliciting applications for Easement Restoration and Stewardship cooperative agreements, with an application deadline of November 19, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time via Grants.gov. NRCS will award $5,000,000 in federal funding as one to four cooperative agreements ranging from $250,000 to $5,000,000 each, with no cost-sharing requirement.
Eligible applicants include city or township governments, county governments, for-profit organizations, Native American tribal governments and organizations, nonprofits with and without 501(c)(3) status, institutions of higher education, small businesses, special district governments, and state governments. Foreign organizations and individuals are ineligible.
Work encompasses three components: restoration of wetland and floodplain easements through coordination, technical investigation (topographic surveys, hydrological and habitat inventories), restoration design, and implementation of structural and vegetative practices; stewardship activities including repair, maintenance, management, and enhancement of existing easements; and onsite and offsite assessment of easement conditions. Projects address wetland reserve easements under the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program and floodplain easements under the Emergency Watershed Protection Program. Awardees must coordinate with NRCS personnel and partners, provide engineering design with state licensure where required, perform construction oversight, monitor ecological condition and deed compliance, and deliver monthly status reporting. Projects should span four to five years with an anticipated start date of March 1, 2027 and nationwide performance across all 50 states, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
Merit evaluation criteria (weighted across 100 percent) address past survey and data collection experience (20 percent), contractor and stakeholder management experience (15 percent), resource availability and equipment (20 percent), project manager and staff qualifications (20 percent), cost efficiency (10 percent), project references (10 percent), and government agreement administration experience (5 percent).
The opportunity is posted under Assistance Listings 10.931 (Agricultural Conservation Easement Program), 10.928 (Emergency Watershed Protection Program Floodplain Easements), and 10.072 (Wetlands Reserve Program). Selections are anticipated by January 2027 and award execution by March 2027.
Synopsis
The opportunities associated with this NOFO are for lands protected through the Wetland Reserve Easements (WRE) component of the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) and the Floodplain Easement (FPE) component of the Emergency Watershed Protection Program (EWPP). The types of work available through this opportunity fall into three primary categories: 1) restoration of wetland and floodplain easements; 2) stewardship of wetland and floodplain easements, and 3) onsite and offsite assessment of easement conditions.
Component 1) Wetland and Floodplain Easement Restoration.
Awardees will work with NRCS personnel, partners and landowners to develop and implement sound easement restoration plans. These plans may include structural practices, such as levees and water control structures, and/or vegetative establishment practices, such as tree planting.
Awardees are expected to complete the following easement restoration activities:
(A) Coordination- Accept input on restoration planning from NRCS employees, NRCS partners and easement owners.
(B) Investigation- Completion of technical surveys such as topographic, hydrological or habitat inventories.
(C) Restoration Design- Combine data collected through coordination and technical surveys to develop functional, yet cost-effective restoration plans.
(D) Implementation- Application of the easement restoration design using NRCS provided practice standards and specifications.
NRCS wetland and floodplain easements have varying levels of restoration planning completed by NRCS employees or partners. Awardees will receive all relevant planning information for easements included in this agreement. Awardee must be prepared to complete some or all the listed restoration activities.
Component 2) Wetland and Floodplain Easement Stewardship.
Awardees are responsible for completing easement stewardship activities on restored wetland and floodplain easements. Easement stewardship includes repair, maintenance, management, and enhancement of properties.
(A) Repair and Enhancement- Awardee will develop repair or enhancement plans. Repair plans will be prepared when installed conservation practices fail or are damaged. Repairs may include structural and/or vegetative restoration practices, such as a dike damaged by flooding or replanting trees damaged or killed by drought. Enhancement plans are developed to improve specific aspects of a restored easement.
(B) Maintenance and Management- Awardee will develop easement maintenance and management plans. These plans identify specific activities that will prolong life and improve the function of installed restoration practices. For example, maintenance plans describe how and when an earthen dike should be mowed to prevent the establishment of woody vegetation.
Component 3) Easement Assessments.
The Awardee will complete onsite and offsite easement assessments. Assessments will document the habitat condition of easements and determine their compliance with deed terms and conditions. Awardees will use the data collected to determine the ecological condition of easements and, if necessary, develop repair, enhancement and/or maintenance plans to improve the condition of the assessed easements.
Files
| File | Type | Posted |
|---|---|---|
| PKG00294215.pdf | ||
| Grants.gov_Application_Guide.pdf | ||
| USDA-NRCS-NHQ-ACEP-26-NOFO0001456.pdf |
On GovTribe
Work this opportunity
- Track it in your pipeline
- Find teaming partners
- Similar grant opportunities
- Ask GovTribe AI about this opportunity