By Ben Thompson

Happy spring everyone! Nothing says rejuvenation like the sights and sounds of springtime, and I, for one, am really feeling it lately.

Thanks to an influx of funding from the USDA Forest Service through the Federal Inflation Reduction Act, and the Washington State Legislature through the Washington State Climate Commitment Act, we have just recently selected eight million dollars’ worth of urban forestry work to support with grant funding.

Let’s not underestimate the gravity of this moment. We will be awarding more money in this one grant cycle than the combined total we have awarded to communities over the last 16 years. And if that isn’t impressive enough, the eight million we will award is only about a third of the dollars requested in this grant cycle, nearly 22 million dollars. 

Unfortunately, there are a lot of good and worthy projects that we were unable to support in this grant round due to funding limitations. I also couldn’t help but notice how many communities didn’t apply but absolutely have need. Only about 25 out of 95 Tree City USA Communities in Washington submitted applications, for example. If these other cities submitted applications it is possible we could have seen as much as 30 million in funding requests based on my back-of-the-napkin calculations. 

We have always known this level of demand was out there but it wasn’t until this moment when we could finally prove it with hard numbers. 

Back in the aughts, the UCF program was self-described as “small but feisty,” and in moments when things looked bleak, we would say, “The only way to go from here is… up!” 

Well, it is safe to say that finally, urban & community forestry in Washington has come up. It feels good to say that as a person dedicating more than 15 years of work to the DNR Urban & Community Forestry Program, but our collective impacts suggest we have helped pull the broader community of practice—across our many partners from all corners of the state —“UP” along with us. 

That isn’t to say we don’t still face challenges. We now have to create 45 new grant agreements in addition to the 15-20 additional agreements we are also planning on. The energy created by our grant program is boosting requests for technical assistance that we need to try and meet. We are also getting frequent invitations to participate and new projects and work groups that are popping up everywhere like daffodils and tulips.

We are also closer than ever to launching our inaugural year of data collection for the Urban Forest Inventory and Analysis project. We have hired a new Inventory Technician to assist with in-house field data collection and are working on agreements with two firms to assist with data collection under contract with us.

I’m also pleased to report that our work with American Forests and the statewide Tree Equity Collaborative is ramping up with our first-ever learning lab coming up in Tacoma on May 7th. Please reach out to Project Manager, Alicia Hamilton (alicia.hamilton@dnr.wa.gov) with any additional questions on the learning lab.

And last but not least, let’s remember that April 10th is the Washington State Arbor Day, and April 29th is the National Arbor Day. As busy as you may find yourself on the cusp of a new growing season, I hope you can all take a moment to get out and plant trees in your community.

Thanks for all that you do for your communities and for the support you lend our program. There’s so much to look forward to, so please stay tuned into Tree Link news for updates and new development.