Project Search
Since its inception in 2004, CIG has funded hundreds of projects, boosting natural resource conservation while helping producers improve the health of their operations for the future. Use this tool to search for CIG projects based on any of the criteria listed below.
CIG projects from 2004-2009 may be missing information in the following categories: Resource Concern (specific), Conservation Practice, Production/Use.
Showing 701 - 710 of 1802 projects
Eastern Nevada Landscape Coalition
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NV
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2013
Expansion and encroachment of pinyon-juniper woodlands into sagebrush steppe ecosystems can have negative impacts, including loss of wildlife Habitat, increased erosion, and loss of herbaceous species. Field demonstration activities carried out through this project will assess the impact of applying biochar in production agriculture and rangeland restoration settings near pinyon-juniper encroachment areas. Turning woody biomass into biochar, and then returning biochar to the soil may be an effective method for maintaining or improving soil moisture and vegetative productivity, improve sage grouse Habitat, and return soil carbon to historic levels. This technique is expected to reduce the overall cost of invasive pinyon-juniper treatment (by creating a value for invasive species woody biomass), helping stimulate the local economy.
U. S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities
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SC
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2013
Recognizing that conserving forests is a cost-effective, common-sense strategy for securing clean drinking water and other watershed services, stakeholders nationwide seek to harness the power of incentives to promote conservation, restoration, and sustainable management of forests and other working lands. A comparative assessment is essential for developing a collective understanding of best practices in the use of incentives for source water protection. This project will meet a strong demand from watershed stakeholders nationwide for tools and guidance to improve the success and financial sustainability of incentive-based approaches to forested watershed conservation. This will, in turn, increase the likelihood of positive engagement in such programs by EQIP-eligible landowners. Project results will also be useful for NRCS grantmaking and technical assistance programs. Improving the success of source water protection projects will provide new revenue streams for landowners, protect drinking water sources, and conserve important wildlife Habitat. Results from this analysis of previously-funded NRCS projects will enhance the success of future efforts, saving time and money and accelerating conservation outcomes.
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
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DC
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2013
This project will build on efforts by researchers, cooperative extension specialists and Bay area farmers to advance the deployment of both liquid and solid manure injection technologies in high-density animal production regions of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Manure injection technology - including the subsurface application of both solid and liquid manures - couples enhanced soil health and fertility with water quality improvements through reduced emissions of valuable nutrients to the environment. The project will also seek to engage the private sector to expand adoption of manure injection systems through collaboration with nutrient management planners and custom manure applicators. Partners will build on previous successes and base next steps on lessons learned to address technical barriers in a promising solid manure injection technology and expand demonstration and producer outreach for liquid manure injection systems that have been successfully reengineered for use in rocky soils characteristic of upland areas of the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
White River Irrigation District
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AR
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2013
About 2.5 million acres of rice is produced in the lower portion of the Mississippi River Basin. This represents approximately 75 percent of the Nations rice production. 100 percent of these acres utilize flood irrigation methods to manage nutrients, control weeds, and provide water to meet plant requirements. Production practices, irrigation water management methods, drainage water management practices, and nutrient management methods are similar across the region. Researchers have been testing alternative rice-growing practices that are common in the Far East but have so far seen limited adoption in the lower Mississippi Valley rice growing region. The goals of this project are to: 1) implement the new rice production practices on 10 percent (200,000 acres) of the rice production acres by 2016; 2) develop an analysis tool that assesses rice production practice options and economic risks; 3) develop a record keeping tool that tracks farmer decisions and is acceptable for carbon trading; and 4) develop an automated mapping capability using satellite imagery to map soil moisture, water use, and track rice practice adoption across the region.
Colorado State University
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CO
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2013
This project will demonstrate, educate and empower producers to achieve 4R nutrient stewardship using tested and proven techniques of quantifying and managing variability in soil and crop properties. The overall goal of this is to integrate site-specific management zone and active remote sensing approaches to increase nitrogen use efficiency. The proposed technologies and techniques will be compatible with farming practices in the Western Great Plains region and will enhance nutrient use efficiency, improve water quality, and improve sustainability, productivity and profitability of irrigated crop production systems in the region.
Heidelberg University
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OH
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2013
The National Center for Water Quality Research’s Heidelberg Tributary Loading Program has one of the most detailed and long-term water quality data sets available in the United States, particularly for agriculture-dominated watersheds. The data show that sediment and particulate phosphorus runoff to Lake Erie has been reduced since the 1970’s and is still decreasing while total phosphorus load has remained relatively constant. However, from the mid-1990s the dissolved reactive phosphorus loads have been rapidly increasing in the monitored tributaries. The overall goal of this project is to improve soil health and reduce nutrient and sediment exports from agricultural farms. The specific objectives are to: 1) demonstrate and quantify the economic and environmental benefits of a suite of best management practices (BMPs) through edge-of-field studies; 2) calibrate and verify the Agricultural Policy Environmental eXtender (APEX) model and the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) and scale-up the BMP effects at different spatial scales in Northwest Ohio; 3) calibrate and verify the Nutrient Tracking Tool (NTT) for the Great Lakes basin; and 4) promote and train the producers and stakeholders of NTT to estimate farm yield and nutrient loss. An innovative way to entice producers to adopt and implement BMPs is to make available user-friendly models (e.g., the web-based NTT) that help producers verify the effectiveness of BMPs and estimate the corresponding farm yields in their own fields and demonstration farms.
Cornell University
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NY
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2013
Nutrient pollution from agriculture, a by-product of excess chemical fertilizer and manure applications transported off-site from crop and livestock production operations, may impair the quality of many local and downstream receiving waters. These excess nutrients may also cause substantial direct or indirect drinking and recreational water quality impairments. One specific innovative tool to address nutrient loss from agricultural row crop operations is to “Require or provide heavy incentives to place constructed wetlands or bioreactors at tile drain outlets” (Nutrient Innovations Task Group 2009). Since many factors influence the rate of nutrient removal, the goal of this project is to demonstrate and optimize treatment effectiveness and efficiency for reducing nitrogen and phosphorus off-farm loss from tile drain discharges to sensitive receiving watersheds using bioreactor technology.
The Curators of the University of Missouri
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MO
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2013
Conservation tillage is defined as a system that leaves enough crop residue on the soil surface after planting to provide 30 percent soil cover, the amount needed to reduce erosion below tolerance levels. Today, however, many farmers aim for greater soil cover because of additional benefits of crop residue. Cover Crops are critical to producing this residue and have the potential to maximize conservation tillage benefits. The objectives of this project are to: 1) evaluate the benefits and shortcomings of existing methods of cover crop seeding such as broadcast seeding (a common method for cover crop establishment) compared with innovative techniques using precision planting equipment; 2) demonstrate the potential of cover crop use and establishment over a range of tillage practices; 3) quantify the impact of cover crop placement relative to subsequent row crop growth and yield by measuring biomass production of the corn and soybean crops and final grain yield; 4) quantify the impact of cover crop placement on nutrient and moisture availability; and 5) provide producer information on available cover crop establishment methods and specific benefits via newsletters, guides, videos and other media. A cost benefit analysis of seeding techniques will also be developed.
Pheasants Forever, Inc.
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MN
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2013
The dramatic decline of native and managed pollinator populations has been well documented in the past decade. Population declines are attributed to several factors, but chief among them is the continued loss of specific pollinator Habitat needs. The establishment of pollinator field borders associated with dedicated Energy crops is not a common practice that is currently used or promoted. This project will help determine the pollinator Habitat value differences between placing the Habitat on unharvested field edges vs. incorporating throughout a field that will be harvested for dedicated Energy crops. This project will begin to address the critical pollinator Habitat needs by integrating pollinator Habitat into bioEnergy production fields. Pollinator Habitat will be designed and established using seeding mixtures designed to produce: 1) a diversity of flowering species throughout the entire growing season; 2) species with different size, shape and color of flowering parts; and 3) Habitat structures that provide access to bare ground for native pollinator nesting sites.
The Nature Conservancy
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OR
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2013
Land managers in the Interior West’s sagebrush landscape have made significant efforts to improve Habitat for the greater sage-grouse and all sagebrush-obligate species. However, there is a serious lack of information about the best conservation practices to implement in sagebrush ecosystems, due to their complexity in terms of factors such as soil, microclimate, invasive species, fire regimes, current Habitat state, historical impacts, and more. All of these factors play a role in determining which conservation practices should be implemented at each site. Yet land managers often have no tools to determine which actions at each site would provide the most benefits to sagebrush Habitat at the least cost. This project will develop new tools for land managers to more effectively and efficiently conserve and restore sagebrush Habitat in the Interior West by merging and refining existing models linked to important ecological sites; reviewing and summarizing existing literature about the effectiveness and benefits of key conservation practices for sage-steppe ecosystems and sage-grouse Habitat; and incorporating findings into existing models. The literature review will also identify knowledge gaps to be addressed in future work.