U.S Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced the grant awards by the USDA Forest Service Urban and Community Forestry Program on September 14th. This announcement followed a separate funding cycle earlier this year that allocated $250 million dollars for urban forestry directly to states. Both funding sources will support projects that improve equitable access to urban and community forests, green spaces, and trees where over 84% of Americans play, live, and work.

Funding is provided by the Inflation Reduction Act and is available to a variety of groups that work to enhance tree equity, tree cover, and access to nature in urban spaces. Funds are delivered directly from USFS to those awarded. Those seeking grant funding from the DNR Urban and Community Forestry program should register for the 2024 Community Forest Assistance Grant Webinar series and keep an eye out for an upcoming request for applications. 

The following Washington communities received grants:

City of College Place

City of College Place: Urban Forestry Enhancement Project:
This project aims to plant trees from the approved city tree list and install drip irrigation throughout the city in key multimodal corridors under construction. The goal is to expand tree canopy along the corridors.

Grant Funding Category: Tree Planting & Maintenance

Funding Amount: $730,413

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City of Lynnwood

South Lynnwood Urban Forestry and Stewardship Program:
This project will protect urban forests, riparian areas, and wetlands to expand healthy urban tree canopy within the South Lynnwood Neighborhood in Lynnwood, Washington. This project will develop a robust stewardship program and an intensive outreach and education component for the residents.

Grant Funding Category: Tree Planting & Maintenance

Funding Amount: $1,308,198

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City of Oak Harbor

Oak Harbor WA Urban & Community Forestry Program Development:
This project will implement urban forest resiliency projects to protect, enhance, and expand equitable tree canopy cover and develop a program to promote and broaden green career pathways.

Grant Funding Category: Tree Planting & Maintenance

Funding Amount: $1,680,140

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City of Port Townsend

Climate & Economic Justice Grant – Castle Hill Neighborhood Tree Canopy:
This project will add trees to a locally funded road project that will provide green stormwater infrastructure including rain gardens to a neighborhood of low- and moderate-income households.

Grant Funding Categories: Tree Planting & Maintenance, Restoration & Resilience

Funding Amount: $230,507

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City of Port Townsend

Urban & Community Forestry Future:
This project will develop an Urban Forestry Plan and engage a professional arboricultural planning service with a demonstrated capacity to provide a timely plan and code update at cost and provide public outreach. It will also include locally funded urban forestry and green stormwater management projects as well.

Grant Funding Category: Restoration & Resilience

Funding Amount: $240,517

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City of Seattle

Delridge Native Forest Garden:
The Delridge Native Forest Garden will enhance approximately four acres of City-owned parcels and unimproved rights-of-way in the Longfellow Creek basin in West Seattle. The project will remove invasive species and plant native conifers and understory plants with cultural significance to regional Tribes. The project will include a footpath, and planting will be coordinated with local communities to provide educational and volunteer opportunities.

Grant Funding Categories: Tree Planting & Maintenance, Restoration & Resilience, Planning & Community Engagement

Funding Amount: $900,000

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City of Seattle – Office of Sustainability & Environment

Growing Seattle: Community-driven urban forestry and job training:
This project will leverage longstanding partnerships to improve the health of Seattle’s urban forest and people. This project will implement tree planting and stewardship across priority neighborhoods, train youth with green economy skills and connect them with employment, plant trees, and restore forested spaces in parks, near public housing, and public school lands.

Grant Funding Categories: Tree Planting & Maintenance, Restoration & Resilience, Workforce Development

Funding Amount: $12,000,000

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City of Shoreline

Enhancing Urban Forestry Efforts in the City of Shoreline:
The City of Shoreline plans to improve the health of our urban forests while supporting community resilience in the face of climate change. This project seeks to increase community engagement through training and volunteer opportunities, increase public and private tree canopies in Shoreline, and improve the quality of our current tree inventory.

Grant Funding Categories: Tree Planting & Maintenance, Restoration & Resilience, Planning & Community Engagement

Funding Amount: $1,000,000

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City of Spokane

Tree Equity Spokane:
The Tree Equity Spokane project will increase tree canopy cover and provide urgent care for trees in disadvantaged communities in Spokane. This project aims to assist Spokane in achieving 30% canopy cover by 2030.

Grant Funding Categories: Tree Planting & Maintenance

Funding Amount: $6,000,000

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City of Tumwater

City of Tumwater Urban Forestry Capacity and Equity Project:
The City of Tumwater Urban Forestry Capacity and Equity Project seeks to protect, enhance, and expand the urban tree canopy equitably within the City of Tumwater in order to maximize benefits to community members. The Project seeks to establish long-term monitoring of air temperature and extreme heat, launch incentive and support programs specifically for low- and moderate-income community members and overburdened communities to expand and preserve the urban and community forest.

Grant Funding Categories: Tree Planting & Maintenance, Extreme Heat

Funding Amount: $334,588

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City of Vancouver

Vancouver Urban Forestry Project:
The City of Vancouver will build a new Urban Forestry Workforce Development Project to provide paid job training for young adults. These seasonal urban forestry crews will plant and maintain new trees and native plants in underserved Vancouver parks and natural areas. The project will improve the health of the City’s urban natural systems, create green job opportunities, address climate change impacts and environmental justice, and enhance community health, safety, and quality of life.

Grant Funding Categories: Tree Planting & Maintenance, Workforce Development

Funding Amount: $300,000

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Snohomish Conservation District

Growing Urban Forest in Snohomish County:
The Snohomish Conservation District will collaborate with the cities of Everett, Marysville, and the Tulalip Tribes to develop urban forest management, monitoring, and maintenance plans. The district will add trees and provide long-term maintenance of urban tree canopy in its communities.

Grant Funding Categories: Tree Planting & Maintenance, Planning & Community Development, Extreme Heat

Funding Amount: $2,480,761

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Snoqualmie Indian Tribe

Snoqualmie Tribe Ancestral Lands Culturally Modified Tree Protection Program:
This project will take place in the Seattle and King County metropolitan area and work to protect the urban forest canopies on Snoqualmie Tribe ancestral lands and launch an educational program to spread awareness of the importance of urban forests.

Grant Funding Categories: Tree Planting & Maintenance

Funding Amount: $1,374,299

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Spokane Conservation District

Spokane County Natural Resource Apprenticeship Program:
This project will improve urban tree canopy and expand forestry career opportunities through hands-on urban and community forestry education programs. Learning opportunities will include summer education programs for local high school students with classroom-based environmental education and restoration fieldwork. This work aims to improve climate resiliency and public health in Spokane County and create new career pathways in under-resourced communities.

Grant Funding Categories: Workforce Development

Funding Amount: $6,000,000

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Washington State University

Empowering community college students to equitably enhance urban forests:
Washington State University will work with faculty at four community colleges to empower students through coursework, engagement activities, and opportunities for professional development. Students will learn to recognize and steward urban trees as critical assets for community and environmental health, complete projects to learn skills for understanding and enhancing urban forest resiliency, and then have opportunities to address the inequities with tree-planting partners and tree giveaways to increase tree canopy cover in disadvantaged areas.

Grant Funding Categories: Tree Planting & Maintenance, Restoration & Resilience, Planning & Community Engagement

Funding Amount: $1,786,431