Deadline: 03-Mar-23
Delaware’s Urban and Community Forestry Program is offering annual grants of up to $5,000 for tree planting or tree management projects on public land.
Objectives
- Increase urban tree canopy in Delaware by promoting quality tree planting and management projects.
- To diversify, enhance, and promote the proper stewardship of Delaware’s urban forest resources.
- To encourage sustainable urban and community forestry programs throughout Delaware.
- Promote green infrastructure that will improve storm water management.
- To improve air quality through urban forest management practices.
- Promote diversity, equity, inclusion, in tree canopy improvement efforts
- Grant funds can help communities develop an effective urban and community forestry program through the following types of projects:
- Tree planting (urban forest buffers, street trees and open space plantings) or
- Tree management (professionally developed tree inventories)
Funding Information
- Requests range from a minimum of $500 to a maximum of $5,000 in only one of two project categories: tree planting or tree management, which can include a professional tree inventory.
- Grants require a 50-50 match in either cash (non-federal funds) or in-kind services, which can include volunteer or staff time, equipment rental, or supplies.
Eligibility Criteria
- Grants are open to all Delaware municipalities, homeowner associations, and certified 501(c)(3) non-profits, including schools and churches.
- All applicants must schedule a site visit with Urban and Community Program staff to review their project. Site visits must be scheduled at least one week in advance.
- Applications are evaluated after the deadline by a committee of the Delaware Community Forestry Council. Eligible projects must be performed on public lands within the community. Priority will be given to first-time applicants, Tree Friendly Communities, and projects with a focus on promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion.
- Eligible projects must be performed on public lands within the community. Public lands are lands owned by state, county, or local governments along with lands classified as public open space within Homeowners Associations (HOA’s), Maintenance Corporations (MC’s), etc. Public lands include parks, green-ways, recreation areas, and public rights-of-way or easements.
- Applicants must have an Employer Identification Number (EIN) – no payment will be made to individuals.
- Applications should be received from the community representative, such as board members. Applications will NOT be accepted if submitted by property management companies or contractors on behalf of the community.
- All applicants are required to set up a site visit with Urban and Community Forestry Program (U&CF) staff, council, or partners before submitting the application. This allows the applicant to present their project to U&CF program staff and get answers to any questions the applicant may have about the application process.
- The urban and community forestry grant is a reimbursement grant. No funding will be provided ahead of the project completion and DFS will not pay contractors directly. No project can take place ahead of application approval.
Evaluation Criteria
- All grants will be ranked by the U&CF Council based on their project criteria and how it related to each section in the application. Some of the grant scoring criteria are listed here.
- Applicant
- Tree Friendly status
- Tree City Status
- First time applicant
- Project
- Addresses proper storm water management practices, forested buffers
- Helps develop sustainable urban and community forestry programs
- Enhances and promotes proper stewardship (protecting, pruning, watering)
- Helps sustain or maintain urban tree canopy
- Promotes tree management planning or proper tree care
- Creation of tree inventory
- Trees for afforesting open community spaces
- “Right tree, right place” (site-appropriate species consideration)
For more information, visit Delaware Forest Service.