Tree Equity Grant for Disadvantaged Communities

These grant funds are provided by the USDA Forest Service Urban and Community Forestry allocation of  the Inflation Reduction Act and are to be made available through competitive subawards to nature deprived populations and disadvantaged communities for a variety of urban and community forestry based activities including: tree inventories, urban forest management plans, tree planting, urban wood  utilization, urban food forests, extreme heat mitigation, and workforce development.

All of the funding from this program will be used to help communities enhance a resilient and  equitable urban forest in disadvantaged communities in Illinois. 

Program areas funded through this proposal must benefit communities in disadvantaged areas and  include one or more of the following program goals. 

1. Increasing tree canopy in disadvantaged areas of communities through diverse tree planting on  public and private property and care post planting 

2. Improving forest health in disadvantaged areas of communities through pruning, dead tree  removals, ash treatment, pest treatment, tree mulching, and watering 

3. Creating or improving community forestry programs that will benefit disadvantaged areas of the  community through completion of a tree inventory paired with an urban forest management  plan, development or update to a tree preservation or protection ordinance, staff training,  contracting with a certified arborist for program development, development of programs for  wood utilization, and the creation of paid on-the-job training opportunities, including pre apprenticeships and apprenticeships, to expand workforce development pathways for green  careers in urban and community forestry. All projects must directly benefit disadvantaged areas  of the community. 

All work shall be completed  within the specified grant time period (Ends on January 4th, 2028).