National Association Of Conservation Districts

National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD), a tax-exempt nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington, DC, serves as a federal grant recipient delivering conservation planning, technical assistance, and landowner engagement services to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Defense. NACD operates exclusively as a prime recipient (98% of its award footprint), with no federal contracting presence; the organization's federal activity consists entirely of cooperative agreements and project grants.

NACD's capability portfolio centers on private landowner engagement, conservation district support, and natural resource management at landscape and regional scales. The organization facilitates partnerships among conservation practitioners, trains technical service providers and forest professionals, administers cost-share programs, and develops coordinated regional conservation strategies. Representative recent work includes a $1.9 million cooperative agreement from the Department of Defense (effective July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2027) under the War Energy, Installations, and Environment Innovation Programs (CFDA 12.632) to develop a strategic plan engaging private landowners in sustainable land management practices that protect military training corridors and installation resilience; a $1.17 million project grant from the USDA Forest Service Eastern Region under the Cooperative Forestry Assistance program (CFDA 10.664) for the Northeast–Mid-Atlantic Partnership for Forests and Water, supporting training for 5,000 forest practitioners through December 31, 2027; and a $250,000 cooperative agreement from the USDA Forest Service under the Inflation Reduction Act Landscape Scale Restoration program (CFDA 10.731) to deliver agroforestry technical assistance to conservation districts nationwide through December 31, 2027.

Customer concentration is heavily weighted toward the Department of Agriculture. The USDA National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) accounts for 21 awards across the footprint, while USDA Forest Service regional and headquarters offices hold 12 additional awards, together representing approximately 80% of NACD's award count. The Environmental Protection Agency Region 4 and the Department of Defense complete the active customer base. NRCS cooperative agreements and project grants dominate the recent pipeline, covering conservation workload support, soil health initiatives, certified technical service provider training, Working Lands Climate Corps education, and wildlife management programs (including feral swine fencing cost-share). NACD also acts as a fiscal intermediary; a $3 million EPA Region 4 cooperative agreement for the Gulf of Mexico Program (awarded August 1, 2022, through July 31, 2027) funds 15 to 35 subawards to underserved farm communities across the non-Mississippi River Gulf region, with 90% of funds flowing through sub-grants to implementation partners. Seven awards carry ultimate completion dates within the next twenty-four months and represent recompete or renewal opportunity. NACD operates as a subrecipient on one federal grant award with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, focusing on drainage water management planning in the Illinois River Basin.