Forest Service Awards More Than $1 Million in Urban and Community Forestry Grants
Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman today announced $1,047,000 in federal grants to 15 organizations for our nation’s urban and community forests. The organizations will match those funds with an additional $1,374,000 for research and education projects for urban forests.
“These grants will help fund programs to promote the importance of urban and community forestry,” Veneman said. “Enhancing forests in urban areas will help improve the quality of the environment and the quality of life in our urban communities.”
Recipients of the cost-share grants were selected in a competitive process, based on criteria developed by the National Urban and Community Forestry Advisory Council (NUCFAC). The NUCFAC is a 15-member advisory council created by the 1990 Farm Bill to provide advice to the Secretary of Agriculture on urban and community forestry. Council members include representatives from communities, universities, non-profit forestry and conservation citizen organizations, landscape and design consultants, the forest product or nursery industry, professional renewable natural resource organizations and USDA. The council reviews the proposals and makes recommendations to the Forest Service, which awards the grants.
The grants fund projects in four categories: urban and community forestry for and with minority and underserved populations, promoting livable communities, communication programs, and research and technology development.
Previous grants resulted in developing community forest plans, methods for identifying the costs and benefits of trees in communities, ways to conserve energy, techniques for communities to care for their forests, and educational programs to promote the importance of urban and community forestry.
Since NUCFAC's establishment, the Forest Service supported 124 competitive cost-share proposals that promote urban and community forestry nationwide. Proposals are submitted in a variety of categories and announced by NUCFAC in the fall of each year.
A list of the grant recipients is below.
2003 URBAN AND COMMUNITY GRANT RECIPIENTS
Category 1: Urban and Community Forestry for and with Minority and Underserved Populations to improve the involvement of minority and underserved populations in the development and delivery of urban and community forestry programs, and improve public and private services to minority and underserved populations.
National Assessment of Minority and Underserved Populations’ Experiences in Urban and Community Forestry submitted by NatureTalks in Kauai, Hawaii.
| Grant | Amount |
|---|---|
|
Forest Service Grant: |
$160,450 |
|
Matching Institution Grant: |
$161,180 |
|
Total |
$321,630 |
Asian Initiative for Urban and Community Forestry submitted by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources in partnership with the TreeTrust in St. Paul, Minn.
| Grant | Amount |
|---|---|
|
Forest Service Grant: |
$120,366 |
|
Matching Institution Grant: |
$174,174 |
|
Total |
$294,540 |
TreeLink in 12 Languages submitted by TreeLink in Salt Lake City, Utah.
| Grant | Amount |
|---|---|
|
Forest Service Grant |
$80,000 |
|
Matching Institution Grant |
$80,000 |
|
Total |
$160,000 |
Category 2: Urban and Community Forestry Projects that Promote Livable Communities to advance the emerging field of green infrastructure and sustainable development principles and methods as related to healthy urban and community forestry.
Re-Designing Neighborhood Parks and Town Squares submitted by the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minn.
| Grant | Amount |
|---|---|
|
Forest Service Grant |
$61,534 |
|
Matching Institution Grant |
$61,568 |
|
Total |
$123,102 |
Cost Effective Sidewalk Planting Site Re-Habilitation submitted by the City of Bath, Maine.
| Grant | Amount |
|---|---|
|
Forest Service Grant |
$9,350 |
|
Matching Institution Grant |
$10,815 |
|
Total |
$20,165 |
Watershed Analysis and Issue Characterization for Urban Forestry Education and Outreach submitted by the Northern Kentucky Area Planning Commission in Fort Mitchell, Ky.
| Grant | Amount |
|---|---|
|
Forest Service Grant |
$38,250 |
|
Matching Institution Grant |
$45,350 |
|
Total |
$83,600 |
Category 3: Communicating the Value of Urban Forestry to increase the public’s understanding value of urban and community forestry, and responsibility for its health.
Urban Trees and Municipal Value: Communicating What a Park System is Worth to a City submitted by the Trust for Public Land in Washington, D.C.
| Grant | Amount |
|---|---|
|
Forest Service Grant |
$138,800 |
|
Matching Institution Grant |
$324,760 |
|
Total |
$463,560 |
Economic Impacts of the Green Industry in the United States submitted by the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tenn., in partnership with the University of Florida in Gainesville, Fla.
| Grant | Amount |
|---|---|
|
Forest Service Grant |
$48,500 |
|
Matching Institution Grant |
$48,500 |
|
Total |
$97,000 |
Going Green submitted by Compass Rose Media in Santa Cruz, Calif.
| Grant | Amount |
|---|---|
|
Forest Service Grant |
$75,255 |
|
Matching Institution Grant |
$97,004 |
|
Total |
$172,259 |
Communicating the Economic and Ecological Value of Urban and Community Forests to Local Government Officials submitted by the International City/County Management Association in Washington, D.C.
| Grant | Amount |
|---|---|
|
Forest Service Grant |
$90,113 |
|
Matching Institution Grant |
$92,113 |
|
Total |
$182,226 |
Category 4: Creative and Innovative Urban and Community Forestry Research and Technology Development Projects to promote the understanding of urban and community forest ecosystems, their components and interactions, and the relationship of community-based social and environmental needs.
The Influence of Urban Soil Condition and Modifications on Transplanted Tree Performance submitted by South Dakota State University in Brookings, S.D.
| Grant | Amount |
|---|---|
|
Forest Service Grant: |
$20,670 |
|
Matching Institution Grant: |
$25,726 |
|
Total |
$46,396 |
Tree Maintenance –Wire Basket Manipulation and Tree Stabilization submitted by Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Virginia Beach, Va.
| Grant | Amount |
|---|---|
|
Forest Service Grant: |
$3,240 |
|
Matching Institution Grant: |
$3,456 |
|
Total |
$6,696 |
Urban Forest Tree Growth and Global Climate Change: Sugar Maple as an Indicator Species submitted by West Virginia University in Morgantown, W.Va.
| Grant | Amount |
|---|---|
|
Forest Service Grant: |
$18,360 |
|
Matching Institution Grant |
$18,460 |
|
Total |
$36,820 |
Feasibility Study: Making a Revenue Generating Biogenic Utility a Reality submitted by the Davey Resource Group in Kent, Ohio.
| Grant | Amount |
|---|---|
|
Forest Service Grant: |
$84,000 |
|
Matching Institution Grant: |
$114,000 |
|
Total |
$198,000 |
Effects of Urban Soil Management Practices on Soil Ecology, Tree Carbon Allocation, Insect Resistance, and Stress Tolerance in an Inverted Subsoil Profile submitted by The Ohio State University in Wooster, Ohio.
| Grant | Amount |
|---|---|
|
Forest Service Grant: |
$98,099 |
|
Matching Institution Group: |
$117,095 |
|
Total |
$215,194 |