The city of New Haven has received a $3 million federal grant to expand their tree canopy coverage. It's from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Urban and Community Forestry Grant Program.
The city’s current program, run by the Urban Resources Initiative, planned to plant 2,500 over the next five years.
The new grant doubles that; the city will now plant 5,000 trees. Approximately 70% of the trees will be planted along the street.
Steven Winter is with the city’s Office of Climate and Sustainability. He said the new trees will make New Haven more climate friendly — and a better place to live.
“What other system can we look to to capture carbon, provide shade, clean our air and help absorb our rainwater?” Winter asked. “It's trees, it's hackneyed, but trees are the answer.”
Mayor Justin Elicker said the trees will primarily be planted in environmental justice neighborhoods, school properties and city parks. According to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, an environmental justice community is defined as “a distressed municipality, as designated by the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development, or a defined census block group where 30% of the population is living below 200% of the federal poverty level.”
“There's a lot of historically underserved neighborhoods in the city that don't have as robust of a tree canopy, and that makes those neighborhoods hotter and means that you have to spend more on air conditioning in the summer to keep yourself cool,” Elicker said. “And as climate change continues to feed off of itself, that actually contributes more to climate change as well.”
Trees are planted by the Yale School of the Environment Urban Resources Initiative, EMERGE — an organization that provides work opportunities and support for formerly incarcerated people — as well as students from New Haven schools.
The federal grant will also fund an Urban Forest Management Plan, which will help the city prepare for future environmental projects.
New Haven residents and business owners can request a tree to be planted on their property for free. More information is available here.
