OpenOpportunity USDA-NHQ-ACEP-26-NOFO0001456

Easement Restoration and Stewardship

Natural Resources Conservation Service · Department of Agriculture

At a glance

Easement Restoration and Stewardship is an open federal cooperative agreement opportunity from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (Department of Agriculture). Applications are due November 19, 2026. Individual awards are listed as $250K – $5M, with about 4 awards expected. Applicant types listed as eligible include state governments, county governments, city or township governments, special district governments, public colleges & universities and 7 more. Cost sharing is not required. It is funded under Assistance Listing 10.072 (Wetlands Reserve Program) and 2 other listings.

Summary assembled from the official notice's fields. The official notice governs.

Key facts

Sep 25, 2026Posted
Nov 19, 2026Application deadlinenext date
Dec 19, 2026Archived

Posted: Sep 25, 2026
Close date: Nov 19, 2026
Archive date: Dec 19, 2026
Award floor: $250,000
Award ceiling: $5,000,000
Est. total funding: Not specified
Expected awards: 4
Cost sharing: Not required
Funding instrument: Cooperative Agreement
Opportunity category: Discretionary

Who can apply

State governments
County governments
City or township governments
Special district governments
Public colleges & universities
Federally recognized tribal governments
Native American tribal organizations
501(c)(3) nonprofits
Nonprofits without 501(c)(3) status
Private colleges & universities
For-profit organizations (not small businesses)
Small businesses

Can your organization apply?

A quick check against the listed applicant types — other requirements in the notice still apply.

Based on the published notice. Review the official notice for complete eligibility requirements.

What it funds

Official synopsis as published by the agency, formatted for readability.

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.

Full announcement & documents

The full announcement has the complete rules — page limits, required attachments, evaluation criteria and any letter-of-intent dates. Files download directly from Grants.gov.

How to apply

0 of 8 done · progress saved in this browser

Read the full announcement (NOFO)Eligibility, evaluation criteria, page limits and required attachments are in the full notice on Grants.gov. Open ↗
Confirm eligibility and fitCheck your organization type above; no cost sharing is required.
Register (or renew) in SAM.gov and get a UEIFree. New registrations can take several weeks; registrations must be renewed every year. Open ↗
Set up Grants.gov accessCreate a Grants.gov account and make sure someone has the Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) role. Open ↗
Open the application packageUse opportunity number USDA-NHQ-ACEP-26-NOFO0001456 on Grants.gov (Grants.gov Workspace). Open ↗
Prepare narrative, budget and attachmentsFollow the notice's format exactly — page limits and required forms are common reasons applications are rejected.
Ask the agency contact any questions earlyTessa Garcia Grants Management Specialist · tessa.garcia@usda.gov Open ↗
Submit before November 19, 2026Applications must be received by 11:59 pm Eastern Time. Submit a few days early and keep your Grants.gov confirmation and validation emails.

Assistance Listings

What is an ALN?

Reported obligations under ALN 10.072

Historical data · not a prediction

FY24

$5.05M

FY25

$2.8M

FY26

$16.7M est.

Source: SAM.gov Assistance Listing 10.072. Program-wide totals, not awards from this specific opportunity.

Who was funded under ALN 10.072

Historical data · not a prediction

Since October 1, 2023, 17 grant awards had funding actions under Wetlands Reserve Program, with 1 sub-awards passed on to other organizations. These are program-wide awards, not awards from this specific notice.

UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT & STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE$258K
FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY$99.8K
CWI WORKS, INC$94.1K
WOODARD & CURRAN INC$50K
NATURAL RESOURCES SOUTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT—

Recipients, states, recent awards and sub-awards →Source: USAspending.gov.

Agency contact (as published)

Tessa Garcia Grants Management Specialist
tessa.garcia@usda.gov
651-602-7919

Quick answers

When is the deadline for “Easement Restoration and Stewardship”?

According to the official notice, applications are due November 19, 2026. The notice adds: “Applications must be received by 11:59 pm Eastern Time.” Confirm the deadline and submission time on Grants.gov before applying.

Who is eligible to apply for “Easement Restoration and Stewardship”?

The official notice names these applicant types as eligible: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Public colleges & universities, Federally recognized tribal governments, Native American tribal organizations, 501(c)(3) nonprofits, Nonprofits without 501(c)(3) status, Private colleges & universities, For-profit organizations (not small businesses) and Small businesses. Additional restrictions may apply; review the full notice.

How much funding is available through “Easement Restoration and Stewardship”?

Per the notice, individual awards are listed as $250k – $5m and the agency expects to make about 4 awards.

How do I apply for “Easement Restoration and Stewardship”?

Applications are submitted through the official source, not through GrantsJunction. Open the official notice on Grants.gov (opportunity USDA-NHQ-ACEP-26-NOFO0001456), and review the full announcement and application package. Organizations applying through Grants.gov generally need an active SAM.gov registration and a Grants.gov account, which can take several weeks to set up.

Matched on shared Assistance Listings, agency, categories and eligible applicant types.

OpenALN 11.463