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Forester Agency 040 DEPT OF AGRICULTURE FOOD & FORESTRY Supervisory Organization AG, Food & Forestry - EC Area–Oklahoma Forestry Service Job Posting End Date (Continuous if Blank) September 04, 2023 Note: Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the day prior to the posting end date above. Estimated Appointment End Date (Continuous if Blank) Full/Part-Time Full time Job Type Regular Compensation up to $55,000.00 Job Description The Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry (ODAFF) is seeking a full time Urban & Community Forester in the Forestry Division. This position (PIN #040000611) is in state government, located in Oklahoma City, OK. The State of Oklahoma offers a comprehensive Benefits Package, including a generous benefit allowance to offset the cost of insurance premiums for employees and their eligible dependents. The annual salary for this position is up to $55,000.000 based on education and experience. Basic Purpose: Positions in this job family are professional foresters assigned responsibilities to develop, implement, or administer forestry conservation and management programs, wildland fire management, and projects in an assigned district, region, or statewide. Typical Functions Provides professional forestry management to cities and towns, non-profit groups, homeowners, government and private agencies, and others on urban and community forestry projects, planting projects, tree maintenance, tree board establishment, tree ordinance establishment and revision, Tree City USA, Tree Campus USA, and Tree Campus K-8. Assists Communities and non-profit groups to obtain grant money for urban forestry projects, assist with project implementation, and monitor projects after completion. Analyze and develops specialized forestry plans for landowners, groups, or communities, which contain specific forestry recommendations, such as forest management guidelines, protection of water quality, protection of forests from fires and pests, improvement of wildlife habitat, control of erosion, tree planting and maintenance guidelines, and timber harvesting. Conducts Tree Risk Assessments for public parks and assists communities with storm recovery efforts. Travels with the Urban Forest Strike Team to states in the southern region to assist with natural disaster recovery. Works with the Education Coordinator to educate and promote sustainable forestry practices through events, speaking engagements, and media. Facilitate and participate in meetings, conferences, and seminars on forest management and conservation and urban forestry; develops and conducts training classes for employees, schools, civic groups, clubs and concerned citizens. Level Descriptor: In this role incumbent will serve as a staff member in the Forestry Services Division with responsibility for developing assigned programs and provide functional or direct supervision and training to lower-level foresters in conducting assigned programs. These positions are responsible for all phases of development and coordination of assigned programs. Education and Experience: Requirements this level consist of a bachelor’s degree in forestry or a related natural resources degree, plus three years of professional forestry experience; or a master’s degree in Forestry and two years of professional forestry experience; or a Doctoral degree in Forestry and one year of professional forestry experience. Knowledge, Skill, and Abilities: Requirements at this level include knowledge of dendrology; of mensuration; of forest management; of silviculture; of modern forestry methods and techniques; of soil conservation techniques and principles; inventories, cutting and regeneration methods; of forest products, urban forestry; of tree physiology; of the methods, techniques; of report writing and recordkeeping; of forestry programs, and natural resources; of common plant pests and appropriate pest control measures; and of long-range planning. Ability is required to establish and maintain effective working relationships with others; to express ideas clearly and concisely, both orally and in writing; to speak effectively before groups; to follow written and oral instructions; and to establish realistic direction for the district or the program assigned in consultation with higher level foresters and administrators. Physical Demands and Work Environment: This position will be working in an office setting and outdoors. They will work closely with landowners, and other natural resources personnel. Field work sometimes occurs in extreme environmental conditions, such as: high/cold temperatures; high winds; smoke; and dust. Subject to call after regular duty hours to serve as needed in Fire Season. Travel could be up to 50% during extreme Fire Seasons. Special Requirements: Applicants must be willing and able to fulfill all job-related travel normally associated with this position; be willing to work hours other than on regular shifts during emergency situations; and possess a telephone to receive emergency on-call duty messages. Possession of a valid Oklahoma driver’s license at time of employment. Applicants must be willing to obtain certification through the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) after employment and obtain the Tree Risk Assessment Qualification after obtaining the ISA Certification. The Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry has determined that some positions in this job family are safety sensitive as defined by 63 O.S. § 427.8. Equal Opportunity Employment The State of Oklahoma is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of genetic information, race, religion, color, sex, age, national origin, or disability. Apply Now

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE The following is an overview of our financial assistance programs in more detail: Community Forestry Assistance Grants: These grants are typically offered in the fall. Check our Tree Link Newsletter for updates. Arbor Day Tree Reimbursements (download the Reimbursement FormCommunities who have earned the Tree City USA designation can be reimbursed for the costs, or a portion thereof, associated with planting landscape-sized trees at their annual Arbor Day celebration. Some restrictions apply. Documentation of costs and activities is required. Match (in-kind or financial) is required. Scholarships: Professional scholarships may occasionally be made available for our constituents to attend local, regional, or national conferences, workshops, seminars, or training classes. Questions about scholarships, internships, or other forms of financial assistance may be directed to urban_forestry@dnr.wa.gov. Internships: Internships may occasionally be made available for students pursuing studies or research projects in urban and community forestry in Washington. Questions about scholarships, internships, or other forms of financial assistance may be directed to urban_forestry@dnr.wa.gov.

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INTRODUCTION The Jack Kimmel International Grant Program, championed by the Canadian TREE Fund, honors the late Jack Kimmel who was the former Director of Parks for the City of Toronto. He is remembered for his contribution of 46 years of leadership to the ISA and its Ontario chapter. Jack Kimmel grants provide much needed funding to arboriculture and urban forestry researchers all over the world. This grant is administered by TREE Fund, with participation from the Canadian TREE Fund in the evaluation process. These grants are available to researchers whose work is primarily outside of the United States. Projects are expected to be completed within one to two years. Grant award amounts are limited to a maximum of $10,000 and will vary depending upon the adjudged value of the project relative to the needs of the arboriculture community. No project may receive more than one award from this program. Note Well: In 2023, TREE Fund’s Jack Kimmel International Grant program will be focused specifically on the three areas of emphasis listed below. Although the three areas are firm but inclusion of topics within is open to discussion. Contact our office sooner rather than later if you have questions. Arboriculture: Theory and Practice (to include pruning, fertilization, climbing, etc.) Tree Health Risk Assessment and mitigation (including all aspects of decay and structural integrity) Letters of inquiry for Kimmel Grants that do not focus on topics related to the focus area will be rejected from further consideration. TREE Fund welcomes research proposals and applications from a wide range of academic and technical disciplines, of both a qualitative and a quantitative nature. TREE Fund does not fund the following types of projects, and will not accept applications for such work: Grants to individuals; Projects that are primarily municipal tree surveys or assessments; Tree planting programs; Studies of individual tree species for the primary purpose of agricultural or timber/forest planting yield; Commercial tree- or soil-related product testing primarily for the benefit of the company that manufactures the product. APPLICATION PROCESS The first step to apply for this grant is to send an email containing a brief Letter of Inquiry (LOI) of no more than 100 words describing your project title and concept to treefund@treefund.org between August 1, 2023 and September 15, 2023. Your LOI must clearly identify the Principal Investigator and Institution who will be contracted for the work should your application be approved. Also note in your LOI that you wish to apply for the Jack Kimmel International Grant program. TREE Fund will evaluate whether your LOI concept meets all of our application criteria and is deemed to have a reasonable possibility of success given the year’s research priorities. If and only if your LOI is approved, TREE Fund will send you a numbered application form for your use. You may not apply without such a numbered application form, and the number of applications so provided each grant making cycle may be limited. TREE Fund determinations on whether an LOI meets the application criteria are final and not negotiable. Your completed application will only be accepted and reviewed between August 1 to October 1, 2022. Upon completion of this application form, you will save a Word version for your records, then create a PDF version of the completed document with title in the format “PI Surname, Grant Program, Application Number” (e.g. “Smith, Kimmel, #19-023”), and email it as an attachment to treefund@treefund.org with a PDF of PI and Co-PI (if applicable) CVs. Staff will confirm receipt of your application at that time. In addition to contact and CV information for the PI, Co-PI(s), and any student assistants, applicants will need the following information to complete the form. Note well that word count limits are firm and absolute. Exceeding word counts may result in your application being rejected before review. Applicants should compose their text in Word or related systems that allow counts to be confirmed before they are placed in the application form. Project Description: Overall Project Summary, Including Overarching Goals (400 Words Maximum): A brief statement of the current issue/problem and its impact on arboriculture, urban forestry, and the professions that are involved with researching, planning, designing, growing, planting, managing and/or otherwise maintaining urban trees; and goals of the proposed research. Description of Measurable Outputs/Outcomes (250 Words Maximum): Include a list of the tangible outputs (publications, extension/outreach materials, posters, etc.) from this project and identify up to five measurable outcomes (real changes in day-to-day urban forest design or management) that are expected to result from work proposed. Current Knowledge/Past Research in Project Area (1,000 Words Maximum, excluding in-text literature citations as described at the end of this section): Description of what is known about the problem/project area and with reference to previous attempts to address it where appropriate; a review of literature and past experiences of the investigative team. Project Work Plan (1,500 Words Maximum): Clearly define the scope of the work to be performed, including hypotheses, design, methodology and analyses. Any anticipated proprietary elements of proposed research must be identified clearly in the initial application. Should applications fail to make such declarations, TREE Fund reserves the right to negotiate royalties from patents, sales, copyrights, or other commercial results of funded research. Dissemination Plans (300 Words Maximum): A brief description of activities and outlets used to share the results of this project. Be sure communications with both academic and practitioner communities are addressed. It is TREE Fund’s explicit desire that research findings eventually be freely and widely available to any and all parties who may benefit from the author’s work. At the same time, TREE Fund recognizes the importance of academic and professional journal publications and will work with recipients to ensure that findings are disseminated in a manner that is cognizant of all parties’ schedules and needs. Literature Cited: It may be useful to refer reviewers to previous work published elsewhere. In such cases, cite appropriate works in your text in “Author(s), year” format (e.g. “Smith, 2014” or “Jones et.al., 2003”) and then list those citations alphabetically by first author’s last name as indicated in the following link from the American Phytopathological Society: https://apsjournals.apsnet.org/page/authorinformation#litcited Budget Elements, Including: Institutional Compensation, Stipends and Benefits Travel and Transportation Equipment (e.g. Vehicles, Growth Chambers, Etc.) Other Materials and Supplies (e.g. Paper, Ink, Etc.) Contract Labor (Consultants, Speakers, Etc.) Institutional Overhead (Maximum 10%) Other/Miscellaneous Cash or In-Kind Funding from Other Sources (Minimum 10%; unrecovered institutional overhead may be applied to meet this minimum) CRITERIA FOR SELECTION Staff will screen all applications for applicant eligibility, adherence to submission directions (including word counts), alignment with the TREE Fund mission, and compliance with minimum requirements. Proposals meeting these criteria are then forwarded to the TREE Fund’s Research and Education Committee for a more thorough and competitive evaluation. Prospective applicants can be sure that reviewers will place highest emphasis on: Prior record of accomplishment by the investigative team. (Scientists early in their research careers may wish to include others with more research experience as active co-investigators or advisors) Potential contribution of the project to the arboricultural industry. Approach, including statement of hypotheses and experimental design Dissemination plan to the scientific community and to tree care professionals TREE Fund does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, gender, sexual orientation, disability or national or ethnic origin. Current trustees of TREE Fund or any member of the family of any such trustee are ineligible to receive grants from TREE Fund. AWARD PROCESS AND FUNDS DISTRIBUTION Recommendations on grant awards will be presented by the Research Committee to the TREE Fund Board of Trustees for approval in December 2023, and grant recipient(s) will be notified in writing within one month of Trustee approval. A Grant Agreement form that includes a payment and reporting schedule will be provided with award notification. It must be completed within one month of notification, and returned to TREE Fund with all required supporting documentation. Applicants are most strongly encouraged to review the sample Grant Agreement form (which can be viewed here) with their employers’ financial or grant management offices prior to submitting an application, to ensure that the Agreement forms can be signed expeditiously upon receipt. Potential difficulties with Agreement terms that are identified during the application process may be considered and negotiated more favorably than those presented after the grant award process. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS It is TREE Fund’s explicit desire that research findings eventually be freely and widely available to any and all parties who may benefit from the author’s work. At the same time, TREE Fund recognizes the importance of academic and professional journal publications and will work with grant recipients to ensure that findings are disseminated in a manner that is cognizant of all parties’ schedules and needs. Recipients should inform TREE Fund when funded research findings are published or presented at conferences so that these accomplishments can be widely publicized. Recipients should also recognize the support provided by TREE Fund in their articles or presentations related to the funded project. Recipients are strongly encouraged to publish findings to relevant professional journals, i.e. Arboriculture and Urban Forestry, Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, Arboricultural Journal, Trees: Structure and Function, Journal of Horticultural Science and Biotechnology, Plant Pathology, Hortscience, Horticultural Science, Sustainable Development, Landscape and Urban Planning, Journal of Urban Health, Environment and Urbanization, Urban Ecosystems, etc. Apply Now

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Companion Blog To The Internet of Nature Podcast Season 5, Episode 10 July 3, 2023 | Alec Sabatini The season finale of the Internet of Nature Podcast’s exploration of the future of urban forestry is all about money. Jad Daley, President of American Forests, joined Dr. Nadina Galle to talk about the urban forestry funding paradigm shift in U.S. urban forestry. Their discussion covered the cause of the funding windfall and what it could and should look like to use these dollars to rebalance systemic inequities. Urban Forestry Funding, Why Now? The federal government is contributing 1.5 billion …with a B… to urban forests, and states, cities, and the private sector are heaping on additional contributions too. Not to look this gift horse in the mouth, but urban foresters have advocated for better urban forestry funding for years. What changed? The science on trees’ benefits to our societies and the climate has been around a while. That’s not new. As Ian Hanou pointed out in Episode 1, it’s social impacts of urban forests that have grabbed the spotlight and tipped the scales. A major contributor to this movement is American Forests’ Tree Equity Score (TES), which has conceptualized the impacts of unbalanced tree canopy better than ever before. As Jad explained, this was very much by design. TES was crafted to name and reframe the problem of unevenly distributed trees in our cities. This concept had long been studied, but reports were usually localized to the neighborhood or city being researched. The universal scale of the problem wasn’t shining through. Tree Equity Score standardized the way we identify the lack of trees in cities, and then applied that standard all over the country. The results were clear, and it didn’t take a technical background to see it. Users could zoom in on any city and find alarming orange census blocks denoting nature-deprived neighborhoods. The systemic, nationwide challenge of tree equity started sinking in. Thanks to TES, other data tools, and tireless work from urban forest advocates, the perception of urban trees is shifting from nice-to-have scenery to a life-and-death issue. The public and elected officials are embracing trees as fundamental infrastructure, and that has helped unlock unprecedented investment. Creating the Right Change A saying around the American Forests office is, “the right thing done the wrong way is the wrong thing.” There is now massive potential for real change in the greening of American cities, but making it happen requires an inclusive, thoughtful approach. It starts with getting funding into the hands of organizations that need it. The Forest Service encouraged grant applications from entities who could sub-award funding to smaller organizations. The intent is to alleviate the administrative burden on small, capacity-constrained applicants and get these funds out faster to communities in greatest need. At least 80 organizations applied to be sub-granters and we will update our own grants resource page with any re-granting opportunities that open up. Creating the right change also means inviting everyone to the table. The benefits of trees span many silos. There are a lot of potential tree allies, but they have to be at the table first, and then shown how trees further their own goals. For an example of what that looks like, American Forests and the City of Phoenix gathered 50 organizations for their Phoenix Metro Urban Forestry Roundtable. A Look Back On Season 5 That’s a wrap. Season 5 of the Internet of Nature Podcast is complete. Ian Hanou, the guest on Episode 1, linked back up with Nadina to highlight of few of the lessons learned and I’ve included a couple of those below: It’s all about people. From the first episode to the last, this sentiment coursed through every discussion. When organizations stay centered on improving people’s lives, good things happen for urban trees too. Every guest shared some type of impactful childhood nature experience when explaining how they ended up in their current profession. It’s a reminder of the significance of nature access. Equitable greenspace is needed not just for public health and climate resilience, it’s going to inspire the next generation of green professionals. Technology is helping us better quantify the ROI of trees. With all this investment coming in, the impetus now is to be ready to show all the good being accomplished. Now is the time to build the business case for continued funding through data and powerful personal stories. Thank you so much for tuning into this companion blog series. You can visit our season five page to look back through all of the podcast episodes and associated blogs. For those already hungry for more nature/tech talk, there are four previous seasons of the IoN podcast to devour. Bon appétit!

Help Wanted You see this message in various forms plastered everywhere these days. Many industries are feeling the strain of a skilled labor shortage and urban forestry is no exception. With government funding spiking and an abundance of tree planting goals (some 9 digits long!), we need more hands on deck to keep up with the demand for greener cities. In episode six of the Internet of Nature Podcast, Dr. Nadina Galle spoke with Leslie Berckes, Executive Director of the Society of Municipal Arborists, on practical tips for inspiring a sustainable, diverse urban forestry workforce. On The Urban Forestry Labor Shortage Leslie felt it first hand at Trees Forever, the Iowa and Illinois nonprofit she worked at for 11 years. Since COVID, they were receiving fewer applicants for open positions. Additionally, recent hires tended not to stay as long. Turnover, especially in younger employees, was high. These two trends are being felt all over. While the pandemic, an impending recession, a battle with inflation, and mass layoffs are all clear contributors to America’s labor market struggles, there is an underlying current at play: demographics. The workforce is going through a generational shift, and ideas and expectations on work are shifting too. Younger workers are focusing more on how much time they spend working as opposed to living, and often have a strong desire to work towards something that feels meaningful. This ideology shift has pros and cons in urban forestry. It means younger employees may move on from positions if it doesn’t feel appropriately engaging. The good news is urban forestry provides extremely meaningful work. It’s an opportunity to support both people and the planet. In this era of eco-anxiety, many folks feel at a loss for what to do. Younger generations see their future in jeopardy, have ideas of what needs to be changed, and are motivated to make a difference. Urban forestry offers a chance to work towards something society needs, and to do something you love. It is a chance to shape what our future human habitat looks like. It’s an industry with true potential to land someone in the middle of an ikigai diagram. The challenge is then how to get these job opportunities seen and appreciated. The four elements of the Ikigai Venn diagram Youth Employment Programs A major part of the new workforce solution is reaching young people with urban forestry projects and ideas. Leslie shared her experience creating a youth employment program, Growing Futures, that provided a win-win for Trees Forever and teen employees. Trees Forever was only able to get so many trees in the ground with volunteers. They would also forgo certain planting locations because they had to rely on property owners to maintain trees. By employing teens they have been able to complete more tree planting and maintenance, while providing these young employees with a competitive wage and valuable job skills. Leslie was inspired after seeing a similar program succeed in Indianapolis, and stressed it takes time to get such programs off the ground. Slowly but surely she convinced key players, the city forester, the public works director, the city manager, and gathered sufficient funding. Now over 80 young adults have gained valuable work experience while helping Trees Forever meet its goals. Some of these kids have gone on to get forestry degrees and work in the industry, but even if that’s not the case this program can still have a lasting influence. Different Angles of Appeal Urban forestry offers a lot of different ways to play. Leslie broke down how the industry can be approached from a few angles, depending on what resonates with people. There’s the outdoor angle. Arborists get to work outside doing hands-on work in and around trees. That has serious appeal to some. Leslie saw first-hand in their youth employment program teens who struggled to engage in typical classroom settings came alive while working outdoors. There is the planning angle. For those more comfortable at a desk, plotting out big picture goals, working at a landscape scale, and crafting plans on how to shape the urban forest with maps and data. There is the political angle. Political savviness is a must for urban foresters. A city arborist is often asked last or near to last to weigh in on decisions. It’s incumbent on city arborists to be strong advocates and influence decision-makers to get trees the support they need. Of course, roles can contain all three of these angles, and that variety can be a draw too. That’s what pulled Leslie in. A chance to be physically active outdoors planting trees, while making plans for where they should go, and convincing others why it needed to happen. What the Society for Municipal Arborists Is Working On The Society of Municipal Arborists (SMA) is a membership organization for anyone working with trees in urban areas, whether with a city, nonprofit, or private company. Leslie explained SMA’s work as a series of goals built on one another. They want to get more trees in the ground, and that means getting more urban forest managers. Doing that starts with supporting educational programs and the students in those programs. To that end, student membership is the fastest-growing sector of SMA. Another strategy is focusing advocacy on high-level groups, such as national parks and recreation organizations and city manager associations, to increase urban forestry positions and funding. The hope is if SMA can get ideas into the minds of government decision-makers, it will be easier for individuals in each city to make their own arguments for additional staff and new projects. SMA is still working on how to leverage the federal IRA funds. One possibility is to become a pass-through funder, by applying for a large sum and then re-granting money to other organizations. IRA applications are due June 1st. We will update our own grants resource page with any re-granting opportunities that open up. Thanks for plugging into the Internet of Nature today. Speaking a job opportunities, we currently have several open positions at PlanIT Geo. Tune in May 17th for Episode 7: How Can We Align Urban Forestry and Municipal Climate Change Policy with Brett KenCairn, the City of Boulder’s Senior Policy Advisor for Climate Action and Director of the Center for Regenerative Solutions.

Urban trees face a gauntlet of threats. Soil compaction, pests, heat, pollution, and vandalism are all part of the reason the half-life of urban trees is estimated at 13-20 years. Making sure new trees are well maintained through their formative first 3-5 years is essential for setting them up for a long, healthy life. In this episode of the Internet of Nature Podcast Dr. Nadina Galle spoke with Tom Ebeling, of the nonprofit Openlands, on how their TreePlanters Grant Program helps volunteer tree plantings thrive. Openlands Volunteer Tree Maintenance Model Openlands’ TreePlanters Grants Program launched in 2013 and has taken off around the Chicago area. The program awards trees to a person, group, or organization that has identified at least 10 tree sites in their neighborhood and residents willing to take responsibility for them. The grantees provide the people and the places to plant, while Openlands provides all other essentials (supplies, expertise, and quality control). Openlands also handles things like liability coverage, permits, and other red tape so residents can focus on planting and caring for trees. Before a tree goes in the ground, one of the local residents must agree to take responsibility for its maintenance for three years. They provide their name, phone number, and sign an agreement outlining the maintenance the tree will need during its establishment. It’s not a legally binding contract but it helps lock in personal commitments. The contact information also helps Openlands keep an open line of communication with volunteers so they can troubleshoot as needed. The program has planted 8,500 trees to date and boasts an 80% survival rate at year three. Tom distilled some of the lessons he’s learned in running this successful program. Clearing Up the Confusion of Ownership Ambiguous responsibility has killed many urban trees. Volunteer planted trees can sometimes land in gray areas of ownership between residents, nonprofits and their volunteers, and the local government. Openlands’ signed volunteer tree maintenance agreement dispels any ambiguity. Their volunteers know exactly what is expected of them. Openlands also uses the volunteer contact information to send seasonal maintenance emails, such as reminders to water or re-mulch. The Power of Presence A sign, flier, or QR code doesn’t have the same impact as a real, live human showing up onsite. Openlands personnel get out on a weekly basis to check on new tree plantings. Tom has seen firsthand how repeated exposure inevitably builds a connection with a community. That relationship yields valuable information, like concerns about the trees or evolving needs of the park. Not Every Treeless Space Is Lacking Tree sites must be picked with care. The onus is on the planter to make sure they are not disregarding some other important use of the space. This is where having a community relationship comes in. This is something Tom deeply admires in the work of Dr. Christine Carmicheal, who conducted research on why roughly 25% of Detroit residents declined the offer for new trees planted in front of their homes. Through interviews with residents, she found many felt the decision to cut down trees or plant new ones would be made by others, yet they would have to deal with the consequences. There were also heritage narratives of residents’ past experiences with trees. Sometimes the city took forever to remove dying trees and other times street trees were abruptly removed en masse. Having applications for TreePlanters Grants come directly from residents protects against putting trees where they are not wanted. Speaking the Same Language Openlands has used periodic tree canopy assessments from the Chicago Regional Trees Initiative to help identify where to focus tree planting efforts. The southwest area of Chicago jumped out as an area with disproportionately low canopy. In checking their records, Openlands also found this area had not applied for many TreePlanters Grants. The reason why quickly became clear. The southwest area of Chicago is the largest Spanish-speaking community in the United States, and no one in the organization was asking if residents wanted trees in Spanish. So Openlands made that area their new priority. Now, they’ve developed bilingual resources, and are connecting with community members that can go around and talk to their neighbors about trees. Additionally, the TreePlanters Grant program has a staff member fluent in Spanish to continue to strengthen their relationships and start to get trees in a part of the city that could really use them. People Are Why We Do It One of the early instructors of the TreePlanters Grant program would say, “Trees are what we do, but people are why we do it.” That phrase is at the heart of all of the suggestions Tom shared. Keeping the focus on improving people’s lives, and on bringing folks together around a common goal has led to solid and communicative relationships. Those relationships are what has made Openlands’ volunteer tree maintenance so consistently effective. Thanks for plugging into the Internet of Nature today. The next IoN topic of discussion: If Money Grows on Trees, Where is Urban Forestry Funding? To break it down Nadina was joined by Jad Daley of American Forests.

A Companion Blog To The Internet of Nature Podcast Season 5, Episode 7 May 30, 2023 | Alec Sabatini The phrase natural climate solutions (and its relative, nature-based solutions) has been sprouting up all over my digital landscape this year. These concepts have been building political and financial momentum lately and that has helpful ramifications for urban forestry. In episode seven, Dr. Nadina Galle was joined by Brett KenCairn, the City of Boulder’s Senior Policy Advisor for Climate Action and Director of the Center for Regenerative Solutions. Nadina and Brett explored what climate change policy has gotten wrong so far and how the rapidly growing interest in natural climate solutions can bolster urban forestry initiatives. The Rise of Natural Climate Solutions Climate action planning used to be laser-focused on energy and emissions reduction but in the 2010s that scope started to expand. Research papers and IPCC reports made it clear emissions reduction would never be enough to limit global warming on its own. Carbon would need to be removed from the atmosphere too and the best way we know how to do that cost-effectively at scale is with natural systems. This kickstarted greater support for the concept of natural climate solutions (NCS), which are actions to protect, better manage and restore nature to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and store carbon. Nature-based solutions (NbS), which is an umbrella concept for addressing challenges with natural systems, is also ascending in recognition and support. NbS now has an official definition from the UN, garners media attention, and got a big stamp of approval from the Biden administration last November. Momentum is building for NCS and as Brett explained, it’s a long overdue correction on the framing of climate action. One of the priorities of this new era of climate action is to relate it with the direct experience of the people being engaged. Cooler communities are one such angle. An uncomfortably hot neighborhood is visceral, and so is the relief offered by greenspace. In Episode 5, guest Vivek Shandas shared several stories of how the urban heat lens altered the way residents look at their surroundings and inspired advocacy. Urban Forestry and Natural Climate Solutions Last year, the City of Boulder launched a natural climate solutions campaign called Cool Boulder. It’s a multidisciplinary approach that combines the efforts of multiple city departments, community organizations, and volunteers. Part of Brett’s work is helping other departments see themselves as climate actors. It’s not just about emission reductions anymore, and groups like the parks and open space departments have big roles to play. The urban forest is one of the campaign’s three action areas. The city is making major investments to maintain the health of the existing tree canopy and plant thousands of additional trees, most of which will need to be located on private land. One of the city’s priorities is to plant trees that won’t be islands of nature, but instead include a supportive ecosystem around them. Aligning urban forestry with city climate initiatives is a well established best practice, but we see extra encouragement in the rise of natural climate solutions. The NCS model has trees as a star of the climate action show, not just a supporting player. As NCS initiatives become more common they will be another funding lever for urban forestry professionals to pull on. For example, New Jersey just launched a $24 million NCS grant program this year, with establishing and maintaining trees as an eligible project. Change is Coming Brett sees real change on the horizon, particularly because climate change’s impacts are starting to be felt vividly. We are entering a time of both intense struggles and remarkable breakthroughs in climate action. “We’ve been propagating this idea that we can make things sustainable,” said Brett. “That was mostly from developed nations that had offshored their worse impacts to developing nations. Now, it’s coming home to roost.” Climate motivated change is coming. The challenge now is to create pathways towards constructive change, and have them ready to scale up quickly. Can we encourage the economy to better value the restoration of degraded land? Can we more frequently measure and vehemently protect greenspace in our built environments? Climate initiatives are going to dominate the governmental funding landscape for decades, and urban forestry is poised to be a major beneficiary. Protecting, managing, and restoring nature could provide over a third of the climate mitigation needed to stabilize below 2 °C warming per a study from The Nature Conservancy.

Some Encouragement For Any Organization That Hasn’t Yet Applied May 15, 2023 | Alec Sabatini The June 1st deadline for the Urban & Community Forestry Inflation Reduction Act Grants is speeding toward us. We are in the territory of now or never. Has your government or organization thought about applying for an IRA urban forestry grant? Go for it! While the application process is a thorough one, we want to encourage you to give it a shot. We know you are wildly busy, but this is an unprecedented opportunity to get potentially transformative funds for your community greening work. We wanted to provide a few tips to help during the application process. IRA Urban Forestry Grant Essentials Let’s start with the essential details for the $1 billion USD the Forest Service is making available through Urban and Community Forestry competitive grants. Grants are for a minimum of $100,000 and a maximum of $50 million. All funding agreements are for five years All federal grant funds are to be matched at least equally (dollar for dollar) with a non-federal match. Match waivers are available for proposals that deliver 100% of the funding/program benefits to disadvantaged communities. The application deadline is 11:59 pm Eastern Time on June 1st Read the Notice of Funding Opportunity for in-depth instruction and head over to the Online Grant Portal when you are ready to begin. SAM.GOV Registration ASAP The System for Award Management (SAM.gov) is the government-wide web-based system supporting all contracts, grants, and the electronic payment system. An active SAM.gov registration is required for IRA urban forestry grant applications. It’s free to register and renew, which must be done every year. This Entity Registration Checklist walks you through every step and needed piece of information. It’s a hefty process (the checklist is 18 pages), but hang in there. It takes 7-10 days for your registration to become active, so start your application today. Nail The Project Narrative We know it’s easier said than done. Lean on online resources for ideas and tips, such as this one or this one. Following the instructions down to the letter, from the font size to the margin width, helps too. Pay particular attention to Section 5: Project Scope Alignment. Applications are evaluated on a 100-point scale and the largest category of points (30) is for judging alignment with grant priorities. These include congressional, Justice40, State Forest Action Plan, and Ten-Year National Urban and Community Forestry Plan priorities. Help Disadvantaged Communities, Waive The Match The dollar-for-dollar match requirement can be waived for proposals delivering 100% of the funding/program benefits to disadvantaged communities. Your application must clearly describe the scope of work to be performed in applicable disadvantaged communities, and provide maps showing the tools used to identify these communities. They offered several vulnerability and environmental justice equity tools that can be used: White House Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST) EPA Environmental Justice and Screening Mapping Tool (EJScreen) EPA EnviroAtlas Interactive Map HUD’s Opportunity Zones All work must be tracked at the level that designates the disadvantaged communities, such as census block groups. To that end, this is where including GIS-based software in your project can be a big help. Our TreePlotter™ INVENTORY and CANOPY software associate project locations and tree information with disadvantaged areas to streamline reporting. Tracking, projecting, and reporting through TreePlotter can show both physical and social outcomes (i.e. increased canopy, reduced heat, health impacts, etc.), and facilitate telling the story of your work with the community. Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool for Grand Junction, CO 2021 Urban Tree Canopy in Grand Junction from TreePlotter CANOPY Get Some Backup One of the allowable expenses is capacity building/workforce development. Your organization is probably at or over capacity, so use the funds to get some help to bring your grant projects to fruition. You can also hire a contractor or an intern to help. PlanIT Geo often operates as a technical capacity booster. We’re here to help expand your options with the expertise and software to complete tree inventories, canopy assessments, and strategic plan development. You can use IRA urban forestry grants for people power, but not mechanical power. Equipment purchases are rarely approved. Equipment rental is suggested as a more acceptable alternative. More To Come While this opportunity is not one to be missed, there will be additional chances to win grants from the IRA windfall. Every state has been allocated funds to redistribute through sub-grants. See how your state fared here. Those state-level grant opportunities are forthcoming. Another upcoming option will be from pass-through funders. The Forest Service is encouraging applications from eligible entities with demonstrated ability to competitively pass through (sub-award) funding to community-based organizations and other partners. We expect a few organizations will exercise this option, apply for the $50 million maximum, and then sub-award money to nonprofit organizations. A minimum of 80% of all funding to a pass-through entity must be competitively sub-awarded to community-based organizations serving disadvantaged communities. The intent of this option is to alleviate the administrative burden on small, capacity-constrained applicants and get these funds out faster to communities in greatest need. We will update our own grants resource page with any re-granting opportunities that open up. Finally, if $100,000 is just too large for your project needs the US Forest Service created a form to stay in the loop on other opportunities. Enter your contact information, a short summary of the project, and other interests to learn more about other Urban and Community Forestry funding opportunities and activities within their partner network.