National Conservation Innovation Grants awarded

On Monday, June 23, USDA Secretary Ed Schafer announced that the 2008 national Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) were awarded to 45 projects in 40 states, $14 million in all. Several forestry-related projects were awarded funds. The list of awards is available at http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/cig/2008awards.html; the information includes the state(s) in which the project will be carried out, the total amount of NRCS funding provided, and the project title.

Under CIG, Environmental Quality Incentives Program funds are used to award competitive grants to non-Federal governmental or non-governmental organizations, Tribes, or individuals. CIG enables NRCS to work with other public and private entities to accelerate technology transfer and adoption of promising technologies and approaches to address some of the nation's most pressing natural resource concerns.