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DNR News

Dec. 21, 2023

Contact: Kevin Sayers, 517-582-3209

DNR announces grants for 18 urban and community forestry projects across the state

People plant a number of trees in a park that has large and small trees in it.

Eighteen tree-related projects around the state will share nearly $400,000 in grants administered by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and funded through two federal programs.

The projects range from tree planting in communities such as Canton Township and Grand Ledge to tree removal, planting and education in Iron Mountain.

The grants are funded through the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service's Urban and Community Forestry program and the Inflation Reduction Act. They provide urban forestry and arboriculture assistance for activities such as citizen outreach and engagement, planning, management, training, and tree planting and maintenance. The program is aligned with the federal Justice40 Initiative and is designed to ensure equitable and resilient urban forests throughout the state.

This initial round of grants represents a limited allocation of funding. More grant offerings are planned during 2024.

Grant recipients

These are the grants funded by the UCF core program:

Canton Township: $20,000 for tree planting for storm recovery.
City of Frankfort: $11,300 for tree planting and tree nursery supplies.
City of Grand Ledge: $50,000 for tree planting for storm recovery.
City of Grand Rapids: $50,000 for municipal forestry operations manual and an urban wood utilization plan.
City of Holland: $10,327 for tree planting, monitoring and supplies.
City of Tecumseh: $16,320 for temporary tree maintenance staffing.
Redford Cemetery Association (Redford Township): $10,000 for inventory, planting and pruning.
Village of Beverly Hills: $10,000 for an inventory and management plan.
Village of Grand Beach: $10,000 for inventory, urban tree canopy study, management plan and contracted forestry assistance.
Village of Michiana: $11,500 for tree planting, pruning, removal, and contracted forestry assistance.

These grants are funded by the Inflation Reduction Act:

City of Big Rapids: $15,450 for tree planting.
City of Buchanan: $16,750 for a management plan, training, planting, pruning and removal.
City of Eastpointe: $20,000 for an urban tree canopy study, inventory and a management plan.
City of Iron Mountain: $41,000 for tree removal, planting and education in Cemetery Park.
Creative Beginnings Child Development Center, Inc. (Mt. Pleasant): $5,394 for tree planting.
Friends of Rouge Park (Detroit): $38,618 for food forest tree planting and distribution.
Rescue MI Nature Now, Inc. (Detroit): $31,000 for youth tree stewardship workforce program and community stewardship empowerment project.
Schoolcraft Conservation District (Manistique): $31,097 for community engagement, education and tree planting.

Learn more about these programs

Under the Inflation Reduction Act, the Forest Service received a historic $1.5 billion to its Urban and Community Forestry program to support tree-planting, urban forest planning and management, and related activities, particularly in disadvantaged communities. To date, the agency has invested over $1.3 billion in grant projects from entities that are working to increase equitable access to trees and green spaces and the many benefits they provide. For more information, visit the U.S. Forest Service UCF Inflation Reduction Act website.

The Michigan DNR Urban and Community Forestry Program is a federally funded program providing technical, educational and financial (grant) assistance to communities, nonprofits, educational institutions and tribes to build capacity for managing trees and forests in urban and community areas throughout the state.