(Radio Iowa) – Communities across Iowa that want to spruce up their tree canopies can now apply for grants to buy trees to plant, and the grants will cover other costs like mulch, tree staking and protection, and even supplemental watering. Chip Murrow, an urban forestry program specialist with the Iowa D-N-R, says the Iowa Tree Planting Grants are available for governmental entities, volunteer groups, and service organizations.
“It’s a program for communities to get trees put into public property, so street trees, park trees, if they want to plant around schools,” Murrow says. “It is a two-year grant, so they have two years to get the tree planting done, and they can get a grant from anywhere from $10,000 to $30,000.” Murrow says the grants are to help plant trees on publicly-owned properties — to diversify the tree canopy, increase tree benefits, aid with energy costs and health disparities, and to increase access to parks and nature. The application process will only be open for a few more months.
“The best place to start is probably the DNR Urban Forestry website,” Murrow says. “There’s a grant website there, if you go there, that has the instructions, and then that will take you to a program called Slide Room where you do the application and it’s all done electronically.” The deadline to apply is June 22nd. Recipients will be notified by July 1st. Funding for the programs comes from the USDA Forest Service Inflation Reduction Act.
