The Washington state legislature first provided this funding from the capital budget in the 2022 supplemental budget. VSP encourages incentive-based projects with landowners focusing on the protection of critical areas in the 27 counties that participate in VSP.

Funding details

Based on feedback at the February 6, 2024, stakeholders meeting, SCC is prioritizing this funding for VSP counties that have not yet had a project funded this biennium (2023-25) using VSP capital funds.

This means that at least one project submitted by a VSP conservation district or county that has not yet had a project funded this biennium (2023-25) using VSP capital funds will be put in the priority funding pool.

Depending on cost of submitted projects, not all VSP conservation districts or counties may have a project funded. All projects must meet the required criteria set out in the VSP Capital Funding Guidelines.

• Project submittal period is now open.
• Please submit projects by entering into the Conservation Practice Data System (CPDS), as per the guidelines by March 26, 2024, at 11:59 a.m. to be considered for review and ranking.
• Projects need to be completed by June 30, 2025.
• Per the guidelines and the prioritization described above, projects will be funded in ranked order until funding is exhausted. SCC expects that all available $1.3 million will be allocated in just one round of review.
• Projects that score the highest will be funded before lower-scoring projects, until funding runs out. Projects that meet the additional optional supplemental criteria will score points.

Please remember:

• The maximum that any given landowner can receive in cost-share assistance is $100,000 per fiscal year per landowner.
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• Input the county or conservation district staffer who is entering the project in CPDS into the “contact person” and “contact email” CPDS fields, not the landowner. SCC uses this information to provide notice of funding award or not to the project proponent.
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• Projects that are already entered into CPDS will be considered if completely and correctly entered into CPDS. Proponents who have already entered projects into CPDS should review, check, and update those projects as needed. 

Timeline

• Feb. 29 at 9 a.m. – A Q&A webinar was held about the VSP reappropriation of capital funds application process. View the webinar recording.
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• March 26 at 11:59 a.m. – Projects must be completely and correctly entered into CPDS to be considered in the first round of review.
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• April 2 – The review committee will meet to score and review projects.
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• April 4 - 9 – SCC staff will provide notice to project proponents of the status of their projects and if funding is awarded or not.
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• After April 9 – SCC does not expect any funding to be available after this first round, but if available, SCC will put out a new notice to VSP stakeholders with instructions on how to apply.

If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to your regional manager or Bill Eller at beller@scc.wa.gov or 509-385-7512.

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