Urban and Community Forestry Grant Accomplishments
This page highlights recent grant awardees from various urban and community forestry grant programs. Awardees are listed by grant program and year of award.
I. Urban and Community Forestry Planning Grant Program
II. Equity through Capacity Building Grant Program
III. Urban Forestry Climate Change Grant Program
Urban and Community Forestry Planning Grant Program (formerly America the Beautiful)
Through financial support provided by the USDA Forest Service, the Urban and Community Forestry Planning Grant provides support for projects that will help municipalities and non-profit organizations collect baseline data that can be used to inform future management decisions. Such projects may include, but are not limited to, conducting inventories of street and/or park trees, creating urban and community forest management plans, developing monitoring programs to document tree condition, evaluations of local urban tree cover, and surveys of urban forested natural areas.
2023
Town of Glastonbury, Glastonbury Comprehensive Forest Action Plan
Amount awarded: $30,000
The Town of Glastonbury will hire a CT certified forester to inventory approximately 1,500 town-owned forested properties.
Town of Winchester, Town of Winchester Tree Inventory
Amount Awarded: $5,000
A CT certified arborist will be hired to conduct a tree inventory along the South Main Street section in Winchester, spanning from Coe Street to Rowley Street and including East End Park.
Town of Wethersfield, Town of Wethersfield's Tree Management Planning Project
Amount Awarded: $17,523
The town will hire a CT certified arborist to create a town-wide street tree inventory, estimated to include approximately 3,000 trees. It will also include documentation of approximately 500 potential tree planting sites.
City of Middletown, Urban and Community Forestry Planning Grant
Amount Awarded: $40,000
The city will hire a CT certified arborist to complete a tree inventory for approximately 75 miles of roadway in neighborhoods that have a tree equity score of less than 95% (see: Tree Equity Score National Explorer). The tree inventory will also include documentation of approximately 2,000 potential tree planting sites in the city. (Press Release)
Town of New Milford, New Milford Tree Management Plan
Amount Awarded: $8,500
A CT certified arborist will be hired to conduct a tree inventory along approximately 5.3 miles of municipal roads in the Gaylordsville section of New Milford.
Town of Stratford, Town of Stratford Tree Canopy Assessment
Amount Awarded: $15,524
The town will hire a consultant to conduct a town-wide canopy assessment based on high-resolution imagery (1m or less). The town-wide canopy assessment will include estimations of tree canopy cover by neighborhood, of tree canopy cover change overtime, and of potential tree planting areas on both public and private lands.
2022
City of Milford, Milford’s Arboretum Inventory and Community Engagement
Amount Awarded: $14,400
The City of Milford hired a contractor to do a full inventory, health, and risk assessment for over 600 trees within Milford’s Town Arboretum. You can view the final product here: downtown arboretum tree inventory.
Groundwork Bridgeport, South End and West End/West Side Tree Inventory
Amount Awarded: $19,905
Groundwork Bridgeport trained volunteers to collect tree inventory data for street trees in the South End and West Side neighborhoods of Bridgeport. This tree inventory will help guide future decisions about which tree species to plant and highlight potential planting areas for the future.
Keney Park Sustainability Project, Project Re-canopy
Awarded: $20,000
Keney Park Sustainability Project worked in collaboration with Riverfront Recapture, the Connecticut River Conservancy, and the City of Hartford to host a series of public events promoting tree management, maintenance, and planting.
Tree planting in Keney Park, Hartford through Project Re-canopy.
KNOX, Creating a Knox tree Inventory and Maintenance Plan for Hartford
Awarded: $14,209
Through this project, Knox was able to inventory all of the trees planted by their organization in the past 10 years.
Riverside Cemetery, Riverside Cemetery Tree Inventory and Management Plan
Awarded: $4,550
Riverside Cemetery hired a contractor to conduct a tree inventory of the cemetery grounds. This inventory highlighted potential future tree planting sites and identified tree health issues and hazardous trees on the grounds. With support from this grant, Riverside was able to implement recommendations identified in their inventory to remove hazardous trees and replace them with new trees.
Tree planting in Riverside Cemetery, Waterbury
Town of Avon, Natural Resources Inventory and Maintenance Plan
Awarded: $10,000
The Town of Avon contracted a forester to write a management plan for 722 forested acres of town-owned parcels including Alsop Meadows Conservation Area, Fisher Meadows Natural Area, Found Land Conservation Area, Huckleberry Hill Conservation Area, and Hazen Park in Avon.
Town of Columbia, Columbia Green Historic District Municipal Tree Management Program
Awarded: $9,500
Through this project, the Town of Columbia was able to expand its existing management plan to include the town green and town hall campuses. This plan helped the town to protect existing trees and prioritize future tree plantings.
Town of Fairfield, Burr Gardens
Awarded: $5,000
The Town of Fairfield received funding to create a tree inventory and management plan for the Burr Gardens in Fairfield. The grant also supported the installation of informational signage for notable trees on the grounds.
Plainfield, Forest Stewardship Plan
Awarded: $2,563
The Town of Plainfield used funding to create a comprehensive forest management plan for a 162-acre town-owned property.
Urban Resource Initiative, Capacity Building to Advance Reactive to Proactive Management
Awarded: $20,000
The Urban Resource Initiative worked with the City of New Haven to document hazardous trees and stumps in the Annex, Fair Haven, Dixwell, Dwight, West River, and Hill neighborhoods of New Haven. You can view these trees in New Haven’s tree inventory.
New Haven’s tree inventory.
Equity through Capacity Building
Through financial support provided by the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, the Urban Forest Equity through Capacity Building Grant Program provides support to help municipalities and non-profit organizations build capacity through urban forestry projects that address both climate change and environmental justice issues. In 2022, 14 grantees were awarded funding amounting to nearly $130,000.
City of West Haven, Urban Canopy Initiative
Awarded: $10,000
With support from the Urban Forest Equity through Capacity Building Grant Program, the City of West Haven hired a contractor to create an urban forest management plan along Kelsey Avenue.This project also included a tree stewardship component through the Tree Warden’s "Tree Tender" program.
City of Groton, Wastewater Treatment Plant Shelter Belt
Awarded: $7,725
Through the Wastewater Treatment Plant Shelter Belt project, the city of Groton planted 77 trees around the perimeter of the wastewater treatment plant across from Thames View Park. As these trees mature and grow, they will not only minimize the view of the treatment plant but also minimize the odors coming from the plant. These trees will also help increase overall tree cover in Groton.
City of New Britain, Tree Canopy Restoration
Awarded: $10,000
The City of New Britain planted 34 trees to increase canopy cover in an area that lost trees in recent years due to pests and winter salt damage. These plantings will not only help offset the urban heat island effect and flooding experienced in these neighborhoods, but will also provide shelter, shade, and beautification to some of the city’s most under-resourced communities.
New London, Growing Community and Trees Pilot Program
Awarded: $9,959
This grant funded a Tree Pilot Program to train four local youth to plant and steward trees in the city of New London. Grant funds were used to purchase trees, tools, and other educational resources.
Common Ground School, Growing Capacity to Steward our Urban Forests at Common Ground
Awarded: $10,000
Common Ground School in New Haven worked with Urban Resources Initiative to create paid internships through the Green Job Corps to support forest restoration around the school’s campus. Common Ground School also held workshops to help community members and students learn about forest and tree maintenance/stewardship.
Connecticut River Conservancy, Growing Community Support for Re-foresting Hartford’s Tree Canopy
Awarded: $9,910
For this project, the Connecticut River Conservancy teamed up with the City of Hartford, Keney Park Sustainability Project, and Riverfront Recapture to host a series of community events, including a hands-on tree cultivation project, a workshop to discuss Hartford’s tree canopy, and an Earth Day event to celebrate volunteers from the city. This included a panel to discuss tree equity in the capital city.
Groundwork Bridgeport, Adopt-a-Tree and Tree Corps
Awarded: $8,433
This grant enabled Groundwork Bridgeport to expand its adopt-a-tree program, which trains volunteers in tree stewardship and care. Through the grant, the organization was able to host stewardship events and provide tree-care kits to tree stewards.
Staff and volunteers at Groundwork Bridgeport with tree care kits.
Justice Dance Performance Project, Inc., In the Presence of Trees
Awarded: $10,000
This grant supported a series of tree-focused dance performances and outreach events centered on environmental justice, trees, and forests. Events were held in parks throughout Hartford. These performances included outreach and engagement intended to bring new and non-traditional perspectives into urban forestry.
Keney Park Sustainability Project, Keney Park Tree Nursery
Awarded: $10,000
Keney Park Sustainability Project used grant funds to help support the creation of a native tree nursery in Keney Park in Hartford. This project also provided workforce development opportunities for local youths.
Neighborhood Housing Services of New Haven, Urban Forestry Education and Volunteer Initiative
Awarded: $8,512
Neighborhood Housing Service of New Haven used grant funds to provide urban forestry educational opportunities for residents in the Newhallville neighborhood of New Haven. These opportunities leveraged the Project Learning Tree curriculum and included park clean-ups and restoration.
Neighborhood Housing Services of Waterbury, Urban Forestry Program
Awarded: $10,000
Neighborhood Housing Service of Waterbury used the funding to identify potential planting locations in the Crownbrook neighborhood of Waterbury as well as efforts to plant new trees in these target areas. This project also included outreach programs and events to help the community understand the importance of urban trees in their neighborhoods.
Norwalk Tree Advisory, Building Equity in South Norwalk through an Urban Forestry Project
Awarded: $10,000
The Norwalk Tree Advisory Committee, Norwalk Parks and Recreation, Norwalk Community College, and the Norwalk Housing Authority all worked together to plant trees in the Roodner Court Housing Complex in Norwalk. The tree planting also engaged local children to participate in the planting and learn about the importance of the trees around them.
Sierra Club, CT Chapter Remington Woods Project
Awarded: $10,000
The Sierra Club used funds to support a series of bilingual town hall meetings about the future of Remington Woods, a 422-acre woodland shared between Bridgeport and Stratford.
Stratfield Historic District, Stratfield Tree Planting Program
Awarded: $5,000
The Stratfield Historic District used the funds to develop a pilot tree-planting program in the Stratfield Historic District of Bridgeport. Through this project, they planted 20 trees to replace trees that had been lost in recent years due to storm damage. These trees will help regulate temperatures and increase stormwater retention.
Outcomes from recent sub-grants
As planted trees grow and reach greater size, pollution mitigation and stormwater absorption are expected to increase each year.
Content last updated in April 9, 2024.