What Happened?
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources will distribute federal grant money to 21 cities, conservation districts and other organizations throughout the state to support urban forestry projects. Urban forestry projects not only benefit the environment but also positively influence the quality of life for residents.
Goal
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources will be dividing a $90,132 federal grant among the 21 winning groups. The federal grant is available through the U.S. Forest Service.
Kevin Sayers, Program Coordinator for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, told Gov1 the federal funding will be used for a variety of urban forestry projects including:
- Tree planting
- Conducting municipal street tree inventories
- Developing urban forest management plans
- Providing outreach
- Deploying education and training opportunities
“We provide financial, technical and educational assistance to communities, nonprofits, schools, tribes and citizens to help build awareness, capacity and knowledge about the need to establish, maintain and enhance our urban natural resources, specifically the urban forest” Sayers told Gov1.
Sayers said the $90,132 federal grant is available through the USDA Forest Service, State and Private Forestry program which requires one-to-one matching funds. Unless urban forestry programs can acquire funding, the state does not support the initiatives alone.
“Having local staffing capacity (manpower and training) is the biggest need for most municipal programs,” Sayers explained. “By extension this relates to a lack of funding designated for staff to work on these projects. On a physical level, the resource (public trees) present countless challenges whether it is maintenance needs, diversity, disease/insect or storms.”
Value of Urban Trees
According to the USDA Forest Service, despite 80 percent of the U.S. population lives in urban settings, yet many of these areas do not have enough urban tree cover to provide the “essential ecological, economic and social benefits” of community forests.
Urban land is expanding to support the evolving needs of the population. Currently tree cover in urban areas is estimated at 35.1 percent. This will have to grow simultaneously as urban settings increase in size. Urban forests provide ecosystem services that improve air quality, the social environment and community well-being.
Urban forests can include:
- Parks
- Street trees
- Landscaped boulevards
- Public gardens
- River and coastal promenades
- Greenways
- River corridors
- Wetlands
- Nature preserves
- Natural areas
- Shelter belts of trees
- Working trees at industrial sites
Urban forests provide ecosystem services that improve air quality, the social environment and community well-being.
Ann Arbor Plan
The City of Ann Arbor has launched a strategy to expand its urban tree canopy to better adapt to climate change. The Michigan Department of Community Health conducted a health impact assessment of the city’s urban forestry program to determine what health and psychological benefits could result from planting more trees in specific areas of Ann Arbor.
Because climate change is creating less predictable, more severe weather patterns, Ann Arbor wanted to identify residents at risk of experiencing extreme heat or other concerns. These sectors could benefit from additional trees to counter these effects.
Show Me The Green
Gov1 has reported on several projects focused on increasing access to green space as well as grant programs to support these initiatives.