The Regional Conservation Partnership Program promotes the coordination of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) conservation activities with partners that offer value-added contributions to expand our ability to address on-farm, watershed, and regional natural resource concerns.

Through this partnership program, NRCS seeks to co-invest with partners to implement projects that provide solutions to conservation challenges thereby measurably improving the resource concerns they seek to address. This partnership orgram promotes collaboration with partners, stakeholders, and various communities, which is paramount to achieving equity in NRCS programs and services.

Eligibility

Entities that are one of the following organizational types can serve as an eligible RCPP partner:

• An agricultural or silvicultural producer association or other group of producers;
• A state or unit of local government;
• An Indian tribe;
• A farmer cooperative;
• A water district, irrigation district, acequia, rural water district or association, or other organization with specific water delivery authority to agricultural producers on agricultural land;
• A municipal water or wastewater treatment entity;
• An institution of higher education;
• An organization, or entity with an established history of working cooperatively with producers on agricultural land (as determined by NRCS) to address:
  • Local conservation priorities related to agricultural production, wildlife habitat development, or nonindustrial private forest land management; or
  • Critical watershed-scale soil erosion, water quality, sediment reduction, or other natural resource issues;
• An entity, such as an Indian tribe, state government, local government, or a non- governmental organization, that has a farmland or grassland protection program that purchases agricultural land easements as defined in 7 CFR Part 1468.3;
• A conservation district.

Match Requirement

For complete details regarding match and cost share requirements, please see the full Notice of Funding Opportunity.

How to Apply

Applications must be submitted through the RCPP portal by 4:59pm EST on August 24, 2026.

A step-by-step guide to the application process is available here.

Please note that applicants must have an eAuthentication (eAuth) level 2 credential or a Login.gov credential to access the RCPP portal.

Contact

Partners with proposal-related questions are encouraged to contact the appropriate NRCS state RCPP coordinator. The How to Apply to RCPP maintains a list of NRCS state RCPP coordinators, which is updated for each funding opportunity. Potential applicants may also contact national RCPP staff by email at rcpp@usda.gov with any general program or policy questions.

To report an issue with the RCPP portal please submit a help desk ticket by email or phone.

Email: FPACITServiceDesk@usda.gov
NRCS Support Hotline: (800) 255-2434

Deadline

Applications must be received by by 4:59 p.m. Eastern Time on August 24, 2026.