Texas Rural Conservation | USDA NRCS TX RCP 19 02

Opportunity Information: Apply for USDA NRCS TX RCP 19 02

The Texas Rural Conservation grant opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number USDA NRCS TX RCP 19 02) is a discretionary grant program offered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) through the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Texas. Its central purpose is to support practical, on-the-ground conservation and community growing projects across the state, with an emphasis on initiatives that improve local food production capacity and strengthen conservation outcomes in rural and community settings. The program is framed as a statewide challenge initiative, meaning it is designed to encourage a wide range of eligible entities to propose and implement tangible projects that can be installed, demonstrated, and replicated.

The projects this opportunity aims to fund are focused on four main activity types: establishing vegetable and fruit gardens, installing rainwater harvesting systems, creating or improving pollinator habitat, and putting up high tunnels (typically unheated hoop-house structures used to extend growing seasons and protect crops). In practice, these project types often pair well together, since gardens and high tunnels can increase local fruit and vegetable production, rainwater harvesting can reduce dependence on municipal or groundwater supplies, and pollinator habitat can support healthier ecosystems and improve yields for many crops. The overall theme is applied conservation: projects are expected to result in real installations or improvements that can be used by communities, institutions, or partner organizations and that align with natural resource stewardship goals.

Eligibility is broad and includes state governments, local governments and political subdivisions, and agencies of those entities, as well as public or private agencies, nonprofit or community-based organizations, educational institutions, and federally recognized Native American tribal governments. The listing indicates eligibility is categorized under "Others" with a note to consult the additional eligibility guidance in the full announcement, but the text provided makes clear the program intends to reach a wide mix of public and private partners capable of carrying out conservation and community agriculture work. This mix is typical for NRCS partner-driven efforts, where local or regional organizations are positioned to implement projects directly or coordinate implementation with landowners, schools, community groups, or local stakeholders.

From a funding perspective, the maximum award amount listed is $18,500 per award, with an expectation of around 20 awards. That combination suggests the program is oriented toward smaller, highly practical projects rather than large multi-year infrastructure builds, and it implies that proposals likely need to be tightly scoped, cost-aware, and ready to implement within a realistic timeline. The opportunity was created on May 9, 2019, and the original application closing date was June 7, 2019, indicating a relatively short application window at the time. The program falls under the Natural Resources funding activity category and is associated with CFDA (Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance) number 10.902, which is a standard identifier used to track federal assistance programs.

Overall, this opportunity is best understood as a targeted NRCS Texas grant designed to seed or expand conservation-minded food and habitat projects throughout Texas communities. It encourages applicants to propose straightforward, implementable efforts such as community or institutional gardens, water-saving harvesting systems, pollinator-supporting plantings, and season-extension structures, with the broader goal of improving natural resource outcomes while also supporting local growing capacity.

• The Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Texas Rural Conservation" 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 May 09, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 07, 2019. (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 $18,500.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 20 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for USDA NRCS TX RCP 19 02

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