Erie County was awarded a $5.2 million U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service Urban and Community Forestry Grant through funding from the Federal Inflation Reduction Act.
In December 2023, Erie County released the Erie County Community Climate Action Plan (CCAP) to help guide and prioritize the County’s climate actions. The CCAP had several action items that called out the need to plant trees in disadvantaged communities. It was created with the help of over 100 volunteers, which led to essential community conversations and helped foster relationships with local organizations and municipalities allowing Erie County to quickly develop the Community Forestry Partnership Project proposal when the USDA funding was announced.
Erie County held a press event at Tifft Nature Preserve in March 2024 to announce the release of the CCAP and discuss the USDA’s Urban and Community Forestry Grant award. You can watch this event below.
https://www.youtube.com/live/3u-JaZykTtQ?si=V96NiQhR2qN95es9
Urban and Community Trees Need Special Care
Trees provide many environmental, social, health, and economic benefits for people, but urban areas present challenges for trees to survive and thrive. The environment and human actions can cause different stresses to urban trees, some of which include: restricted root-growth area, road-salt exposure, soil moisture extremes, compacted soil, reduced soil fertility, pollution, improper pruning, trenching, and damage from lawn-care equipment, snow plows or vandalism. These stressful growing conditions can cause a decline in tree health and may eventually result in death, if not corrected in time. By actively managing our community forests, we protect these valuable resources and preserve and/or enhance the resulting benefits.
Benefits of Trees in Urban Areas
Studies show that trees improve air and water quality, reduce flooding, reduce cooling and heating energy needs, increase property values, and improve the quality of life for people and wildlife around them.
Trees remove air and water pollutants through both their root systems and their leaves. Certain species can channel rain to the roots and reduce stormwater runoff. Tree canopies shade buildings, sidewalks, streets, and other structures keeping them cooler which reduces air conditioning and other energy needs in summer. Strategically placed trees, and correct tree species selection, can shelter buildings from cold winds in winter months, reducing heating costs.
The positive effects trees have on human health and well-being are numerous. Studies have found that exposure to trees reduces the symptoms of stress and depression, can aid in the recovery from surgery, and reduce the incidence of domestic violence. People are more likely to exercise if parks are nearby. When people utilize parks and shady street trees, they are more likely to meet and establish bonds with their neighbors, which helps to create a sense of community. When people enjoy spending time in their neighborhoods, they develop pride and a sense of ownership in their communities. The presence of trees and the proximity to parks can also increase residential and commercial property values.
Under this project, Erie County will:
- Manage the development of a Community Forest Management Plan looking at existing conditions of tree cover and maintenance throughout Erie County and making recommendations for best management practices and implementation projects to increase tree canopy, reduce stormwater runoff/flooding, address heat island effects, and more for the community. There will be a special focus on federally designated disadvantaged communities throughout Erie County.
- Address native tree supply in Erie County by establishing a tree nursery through Erie County Department of Parks, Recreation, and Forestry (Parks). Saplings and seeds will be collected from existing Parks’ property and grown in the nursery for use by local governments and organizations in planting projects in disadvantaged communities. See if your potential project will qualify by entering the address in this map.
- Expand workforce development opportunities around tree planting and maintenance for incarcerated individuals at the Erie County Correctional Facility with Erie County’s Sheriff’s Office. The Erie County Sheriff's Office Community Reintegration Forestry Program currently has a compost generating program and horticulture program for workforce development that will be combining efforts with this project.
- Work closely with the City of Buffalo, Niagara River Greenway, partners listed below, and other municipalities and community groups to plant trees in disadvantaged communities throughout Erie County. If you are interested in potentially partnering with Erie County on a tree-planting project, please fill out this form.
Our Grant Partners:
Black Rock Riverside Alliance
The Black Rock Riverside Alliance has worked with various organizations and individuals to find ways to improve the quality of life of the Black Rock, Riverside, Grant-Amherst, and West Hertel communities.
The Black Rock Riverside Alliance will create two fruit orchards to address the food insecurities of residents in food desert neighborhoods within their community. The Black Rock Riverside Alliance will also create a community educational arboretum along the Jesse Kregel Pathway along Scajaquada Creek and the Niagara River Trail up to the City of Buffalo line. The arboretum will be used as a teaching tool for environmental programs at Buffalo State University, local environmental and conservation high school programs, and the public.
Buffalo Freedom Gardens
Buffalo Freedom Gardens is a black-led community-based organization that provides plants, growing supplies, and educational support to families that want to grow gardens in the City of Buffalo.
Buffalo Freedom Gardens will be installing a Food Forest located at JFK Recreation Center, which is in one of the oldest neighborhoods of Buffalo and located in a disadvantaged community. Community members will be recruited and trained to be tree stewards and garden guides. There will also be garden tours, workshops, and lectures for school children, block clubs, residents, and church congregations. In addition, 75 backyards will receive food trees to expand the food forest across Buffalo.
Cornell Cooperative Extension of Erie County
Cornell Cooperative Extension brings local experience and research-based solutions together in pursuit of economic vitality, ecological sustainability, and social well-being. Cornell Cooperative Extension works across generations providing training and education based on community needs.
Cornell Cooperative Extension will work with SUNY Erie to develop tree planting and maintenance certificate courses with scholarships for participants from disadvantaged communities. They will also create a high school summer internship program to train interested students in becoming Tree Stewards. Also, Cornell Cooperative Extension will work with their consultant, Nancy Smith, LLC, to conduct community outreach to inform and prioritize grant program actions, as well as assist in conducting outreach around the value of trees.
Monarch of Infinite Possibilities
Monarch of Infinite Possibilities works to engage and connect the BIPOC and faith-based community to raise awareness about environmental issues that impact marginalized and diverse communities. It is Monarch of Infinite Possibilities’ goal to bring every voice to the table and create a safe space to uplift the black, brown, and indigenous community to foster a better future for those who have been disproportionately impacted by redlining, disinvestment, and intentional poverty traps, especially on the East Side of Buffalo.
Monarch of Infinite Possibilities will steward the relationship building process with churches on the East Side of Buffalo, educate about the importance of trees in regard to climate change, connect congregants to workforce development/training, coordinate tree planting projects, and conduct outreach and engage the community in this project.
Town of Tonawanda
The Town of Tonawanda has been a Tree City USA for 15 years and has won the National Arbor Day Foundation Growth award for five years. The Forestry Division of the Tonawanda Highway Department is responsible for planting and maintaining 31,000 trees in the public rights of way, pruning and removing dead trees that are endangering public health or property, and identifying the sites where there are few trees and planting new trees.
The Town of Tonawanda will expand their tree nursery and develop a comprehensive planting and maintenance program for street trees and park trees within the disadvantaged communities. In addition, they will reach out through existing partnerships to various school and community groups to host at least one planting and tree maintenance workshop per year.
Support for this project is provided by the U.S. Forest Service
In accordance with Federal law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, this organization is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, and reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.)
Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.) should contact the responsible State or local Agency that administers the program or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. Additionally, program information is also available in languages other than English.
To file a program discrimination complaint, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, AD-3027, found online at How to File a Program Discrimination Complaint and at any USDA office or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all of the information requested in the form. Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by: (1) mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; (2) fax: (202) 690-7442; or (3) email: program.intake@usda.gov.
This institution is an equal opportunity provider.
