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CITIES TO APPLY FOR URBAN FORESTRY GRANTS BY JUNE 9

AUBURN, APRIL 14---Urban forestry may sound to many people like a contradiction in terms. Yet, for many cities, softening the edges of urban environment has become a major focus in an age when residents are increasingly fed up with the stark realities of concrete and asphalt associated with city life.

With that in mind, Neil Letson, an urban forestry coordinator for the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, is traveling the state trying to persuade communities to qualify for a series of grants aimed at improving urban forestry resources.

As Letson sees it, the grants enable cities to do a number of things to enhance their urban forestry resources, such as charting a long-term forestry plan or developing ways to manage existing resources more efficiently.

More than $250,000 of grant money is available to Alabama cities through the Urban and Community Forestry Financial Assistance Program. The grant is administered through the Alabama Cooperative Extension System in conjunction with the Auburn University School of Forestry, Alabama Forestry Commission, Alabama Urban Forestry Association and the U.S. Forest Service.

County and city governments as well as nonprofit organizations and institutions of higher learning are urged to apply. To qualify, nonprofit groups must be a federally exempt 501 C3 or related organization. Deadline to apply is June 9.

Many communities already have used the grant money in a variety of creative ways, Letson says. Mobile, which keeps a computer record of every tree planted on municipal property, used some of their grant to bring these records into Y2K compliance. Funds also were used to enable planners to locate these trees using GPS (global positioning satellites). 

Because liability associated with falling trees, older, disease- or storm-damaged trees are a constant concern of city planners, the innovations provided by the grant will enable Mobile planners to keep track of such trees. Other cities, such as Ozark and Talladega, have used grants to hire fulltime foresters.

"These grants have enabled many Alabama cities to develop some of the best forestry programs in the entire Southeast – a few of which will be considered among the best in the country in a few more years," Letson says.

While urban forestry may strike many people as a strange concept, Letson says it reflects a growing trend emerging in many parts of Alabama and elsewhere.

"Alabama is urbanizing," he says. "And as cities expand into rural areas, they are absorbing many forests and natural ecosystems." As many city leaders have learned, managing these forestry resources effectively enhances the quality of life for many residents, even the community’s economic profile.

"City leaders are always looking for ways to make their cities attractive and unique to attract more business and tourism," Letson says. "Urban forestry projects are one way to do this. An effective urban forestry program may even play a crucial role in determining whether an industry chooses to locate in a community."

For more information, contact Neil Letson at (334) 240-9360. You also may visit the Urban and Community Forestry web site at www.aces.edu