How does a community manage to increase its street and park tree species diversity by 445% without spending ANY public funds to purchase trees?!! Look no further than the Village of Cambridge, WI (pop. 1,500) for an answer.
Continue reading “Cambridge Tree Project”
Financial help
Changes in DNR Urban Forestry grant staff
There are some new faces in the DNR Urban Forestry grant staff.
Chase O’Brien started on June 10th as the Urban Forestry Grant Manager located in the Madison office. He has spent the last 3 ½ years working in the DNR Forest Tax Program. He has a degree in Geography & Earth Science with a GIS concentration from UW – La Crosse. Chase enjoys spending his free time seeing live music, traveling, crafting food and drink and playing Ultimate Frisbee. His contact information is Chase.OBrien@wisconsin.gov and 608-640-6143.
Nicolle Spafford is the Forestry Division Budget and Grant Specialist located in the Tomahawk office. She’s been working with our program for several months now, but you’ll be seeing even more of her in the future. Nicolle has been with the DNR Division of Forestry for 28 years. She enjoys spending her free time at her daughter’s academic and sporting events, running races with her daughter, bicycling, reading/collecting books, traveling, training for a marathon and collecting wine corks. Her contact information is Nicolle.Spafford@wi.gov and 715-453-2188 ext. 1274.
Information on the Urban Forestry Grant Program can be found at https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/UrbanForests/grants/index.html. DNR Urban Forestry grant staff may also be reached at DNRUrbanForestryGrants@wi.gov.
DNR awards second round of urban forestry grants
The DNR Urban Forestry Grant program awarded over $70,000 to 3 Wisconsin communities and 1 nonprofit organization for urban forestry projects during our 2019 second round of funding. In order to ensure a pool of catastrophic storm funds throughout the year we award grants in two rounds rather than awarding all funds in December. The communities who received grants in the spring include City of Franklin, City of Milton, City of Oshkosh, and Riveredge Nature Center. Continue reading “DNR awards second round of urban forestry grants”
Master Gardeners increase diversity in Wausau botanical garden
The North Central Wisconsin Master Gardener Association is working to develop a shade garden within the Monk Botanical Gardens located in Wausau, WI. Continue reading “Master Gardeners increase diversity in Wausau botanical garden”
Urban Tree Alliance partners with Community Development Authority to complete tree inventory
The Urban Tree Alliance (UTA) received funding from the WI DNR urban forestry grant program to develop the Housing Partnerships project. Continue reading “Urban Tree Alliance partners with Community Development Authority to complete tree inventory”
2019 Urban forestry grant recipients announced
Thirty-eight communities, nonprofit groups, and counties will share over $532,000 in 2019 state grant dollars to promote and sustain urban forest resources in Wisconsin. Continue reading “2019 Urban forestry grant recipients announced”
Bay-Lake RPC announces the award of 20 tree grants
Three Wisconsin regional planning commissions and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) have jointly awarded $122,000 in grants to communities under their 2018/19 Wisconsin Regional Planning Commissions (RPCs) and DNR Great Lakes Basin Tree Planting Grant Program. Twenty Wisconsin communities will receive funds for projects to reduce runoff and mitigate the impacts of Emerald Ash Borer (EAB). The grant funds are supporting the planting of nearly 1,000 trees throughout the Wisconsin Great Lakes Basin to help reduce runoff and recover from canopy losses from EAB. Continue reading “Bay-Lake RPC announces the award of 20 tree grants”
Video to help understand urban forestry grant reimbursement
The Urban Forestry grant reimbursement process can be challenging. All the time and energy that goes into creating a successful project can also create a lot of paperwork, and it is not an easy task to keep everything organized. A new video has been created to help grant recipients navigate this aspect of the reimbursement process and avoid some of the most common mistakes that we see on our grant reimbursement forms. The video covers topics such as documenting cash expenditures, using correct equipment rates, and contacting DNR staff. It is approximately eleven minutes long and can be accessed from the Urban Forestry Grants webpage. Continue reading “Video to help understand urban forestry grant reimbursement”
2019 Urban Forestry grants now open!
A reminder that the application for the 2019 Urban Forestry Grants is open! Cities, villages, towns, counties, tribes and 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations in or conducting their project in Wisconsin are encouraged to apply for a regular or startup 2019 Department of Natural Resources Urban Forestry Grant! The grants range from $1,000 to $25,000, and grant recipients must match each grant dollar for dollar. A startup grant of up to $5,000 is available for communities that want to start or restart a community forestry program. Grants are awarded to projects that align with state and national goals for increasing the urban forest canopy and the benefits it provides.
Funding available to plant trees!
The Bay-Lake RPC announced available funding under the 2019 WI RPCs & DNR Great Lakes Basin Tree Planting grant program. This program is a partnership between Bay-Lake RPC, Wisconsin DNR, East Central Wisconsin RPC, Northwest Wisconsin RPC, and Southeastern Wisconsin RPC. Continue reading “Funding available to plant trees!”