In July 2024, the county board awarded 17 Healthy Tree Canopy grants totaling about $433,923. Grant projects will take place in eight cities, on two affordable housing properties, at three schools, and through five nonprofit organizations, including congregations and neighborhood associations. More than 920 trees will be planted or treated through the grant projects.
The grants will:
- Fund the collection of data through tree inventories, which is critical to increasing and diversifying the tree canopy and starting to respond to emerald ash borer.
- Address the impacts of tree pests and pathogens by improving city forestry capacity and treating or replacing and replanting ash trees that are threatened by emerald ash borer. Grantees are required to plant at least one replacement tree for every ash tree removed.
- Educate residents on the benefits of trees and engage them in tree planting efforts.
- Improve livability and reduce disparities by planting trees in neighborhoods throughout the county experiencing disproportionate amounts of economic, environmental, and health inequities.
- Protect people and increase the county’s resilience to climate change – important goals in the county’s Climate Action Plan – by increasing the benefits that trees provide. These benefits include capturing carbon, reducing air pollution, and taking up stormwater, and providing shade to counteract the urban heat island effect.
Grants awarded to cities
Grants to cities fund tree inventories, help mitigate the effects of tree pests and pathogens, increase the capacity of city forestry programs, educate residents on the benefits of trees and engage them in tree planting efforts, and improve livability by planting trees in neighborhoods that face economic, environmental, and health disparities.
Bloomington
$50,000 to create an urban forestry master management plan.
Brooklyn Park
$50,000 to update tree inventory, plant 100 trees in boulevards and parks, and conduct public outreach and education.
Eden Prairie
$44,370 to treat 431 ash trees.
Excelsior
$32,540 to preserve trees, update tree inventory, remove hazardous trees, and plant 22 trees.
Minneapolis
$50,000 to create a tree preservation ordinance.
Minnetonka
$50,000 for a smart tree inventory to update city’s tree inventory.
New Hope
$50,000 to plant 79 trees in boulevards and parks.
St. Anthony
$19,858 to remove 15 ash and replant 15 trees.
Grants awarded to affordable housing providers
Grants to affordable housing providers promote a more diverse, resilient, and equitable tree canopy by removing and replacing ash trees and planting new trees.
Boisclair Corporation
$15,830 to plant 26 trees at two affordable housing sites in New Hope and Robbinsdale
Grants awarded to nonprofit organizations and schools
Grants to nonprofit organizations and schools are used to engage communities in planting trees, remove and replace ash trees, conduct tree-related education, complete tree inventories, and hold Arbor Day celebrations.
Chelsea Mews Association
$6,711 Remove 10 ash and replant 10 trees.
Groves Learning Organization
$10,000 to plant 10 trees and conduct tree-related education at school.
Independent School District 271
$9,850 to plant 50 trees and conduct tree-related education on school property in Bloomington.
Lake Harriet Environmental Council
$4,764 to replace invasive species by planting and maintaining 55 trees around Lake Harriet in Minneapolis.
St. Andrew Lutheran Church
$10,000 to plant 23 replacement trees in Eden Prairie.
The Preserve Association
$10,000 to remove 25 ash trees and plant 45-50 replacement trees in Eden Prairie.
Special School District 1
$10,000 to plant 50 trees across 10 different school properties in Minneapolis.
Tree Trust
$10,000 to hold an educational event and plant 30 trees at a Maple Grove school.
