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.
Project and Report Search Toggle
Showing 711 - 720 of 1802 projects
Dogwood Alliance, Inc
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NC
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2013
The purpose of this project is to implement a market-based approach to funding forestland conservation and stewardship practices through the creation and sale of high quality forest carbon offsets and Forest Stewardship Council certified timber management. This 2,000 acre pilot is an improved forest management project wherein the landowner commits to conserve and enhance existing forest carbon stocks on the property while planning to bring additional offsets to market as carbon stocks continue to accumulate through net growth supported by responsible forest management and ecological restoration efforts. This new, innovative model of forest conservation and management has the potential to provide a viable funding mechanism from revenue produced from forest-based carbon offsets under the California carbon cap and trade program that enables landowners to expand protection, restoration and conservation of their forests.
The Nature Conservancy
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MD
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2013
Floodplain forests provide critical water quality and sediment/nutrient storage functions when hydrologically connected to adjacent streams and rivers. Floodplain reconnections provide ideal opportunities to store floodwaters, and enhance instream water quality and Habitat conditions. This project will demonstrate and quantify the efficacy of reconnected bottomland hardwood floodplains to improve water quality by trapping nutrients and sediment and also to enhance Habitat and flood water storage by restoring wetland hydrology. An innovative targeting tool, which predicts 1) where floodplain functions can be restored throughout a watershed; and 2) the mass of sediment and nutrients potentially captured or retained in candidate restoration sites, will be evaluated. This analysis of the ability of restored wetlands to provide targeted ecosystem functions will inform recommendations for targeting and designing floodplain reconnections, providing decision support tools for implementing the most cost-effective practices to improve flood protection, water quality, and wildlife Habitat benefits while maximizing crop production.
National Network of Forest Practitioners
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OH
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2013
Historically underserved landowners have not participated in USDA programs at the same rates as their counterparts. Current efforts by USDA to improve outreach to historically underserved producers will be complemented by this project. Community-based outreach techniques will be used to engage underserved landowners in Longleaf Pine restoration and management, including use of controlled burning. Project methods include development of 18 Woodland Advocates with intensive training on longleaf production and management, including controlled burning. Two educational videos will be produced as motivational and educational tools for use in workshops, and made available online for absentee landowners. One hundred twenty landowners will be supported in applying for EQIP, forest management plans, or other tangible steps to improve their forest management. In addition, a landowner targeting approach focused on Longleaf restoration related activities and opportunities will be piloted.
Bat Conservation International, Inc
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TX
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2013
Bats are one of the most ecologically and economically important wildlife taxa worldwide, and also one of the most threatened. Bats are primary predators of night-flying insects, consuming countless agricultural and forest pests nightly and directly reducing pesticide use, while preventing North American agricultural losses estimated at more than $3.7 billion per year. Project activities will bring bat conservation technologies, skills, and knowledge to partners and producers, simultaneously improving outcomes for pollinating and pest-consuming bat species in the United States with specific benefits to agricultural production. Comprehensive outreach will be conducted in eight targeted states with a collection of sound, tested, innovative bat conservation best practices for wind Energy development, biofuel crop production, mine/well closures, wildlife Habitat monitoring, water for wildlife, and integrated pest management.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.