{"id":122732,"date":"2023-09-19T21:39:16","date_gmt":"2023-09-20T01:39:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=122732"},"modified":"2023-09-19T21:39:16","modified_gmt":"2023-09-20T01:39:16","slug":"city-of-easton-receives-1-million-via-usda-grant-program-for-urban-forestry-equity-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=122732","title":{"rendered":"City of Easton Receives $1 million via USDA Grant Program for Urban Forestry Equity Project"},"content":{"rendered":"

EASTON, PA <\/strong>\u2013 September 19, 2023 \u2013 Last week, the City of Easton was notified that it had been selected among 385 recipients to receive a $1 million grant, the largest in the Commonwealth outside of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the purposes of expanding the city\u2019s urban canopy via increased tree planting as well as to support the maintenance of the existing urban forest. This grant, following an application by the city\u2019s Department of Community & Economic Development and approval by the USDA\u2019s Forest Service, will also establish a five-year urban forest apprenticeship under the city\u2019s Conservation Manager Robert Christopher.<\/p>\n

Mayor Salvatore J. Panto, Jr. celebrated the selection of the city\u2019s Easton Urban Forestry Equity Project and the historic investment by the USDA, particularly in underserved areas of the community like the West Ward and sections of the South Side.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn addition to providing shade in the summer and protection from wintery elements, trees also provide the oxygen that sustains humanity and makes our city more livable,\u201d said Mayor Panto. \u201cWe thank our federal partners for recognizing the value of urban trees and for creating and maintaining green spaces for Easton residents. With climate change giving us more severe heat in the summer, we all can appreciate the shade of a healthy tree and the cool breezes they generate.\u201d<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s project will have three primary goals:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Expanding the City\u2019s Urban Canopy<\/strong>: Areas of the city\u2019s West Ward and Downtown benefit from green spaces like the Lehigh Canal or the Historic Easton Cemetery. Away from these spaces, however, these neighborhoods tend to have poor tree cover. For instance, Northampton Street in the West Ward is, on average, 10 degrees warmer than the nearby Easton Cemetery. This component of the project will involve tree giveaways to both residents and non-profit stewards of the city\u2019s green spaces, result in more trees planted in city-owned facilities and parks, and expand the existing planting program. As noted in the city\u2019s application, just 100 new trees in Easton would, over the course of 20 years, sequester 20 tons of carbon dioxide, remove 1\/8 of a ton of pollution from the air, mitigate 75,000 gallons of runoff, and generate $20,000 in savings and services to the city, as well as raise property values by thousands of dollars.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      \n
    1. Maintain the City\u2019s Existing Urban Forest:<\/strong> This element of the program will utilize funding to combat invasive species, trim trees, and remove and replace sick or dead trees. New trees, unlike some older tree plantings, will follow a \u201cright tree, right place\u201d philosophy in order to avoid damaging or interfering with the surrounding environment.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
        \n
      1. Establishing Urban Forester Apprenticeship:<\/strong> This individual, working under the Conservation Manager, will assist with a variety of services to build and maintain the urban treescape.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        This project, with funding made possible through the Inflation Reduction Act, will result in increased shade from expansion of the city\u2019s tree canopy. The submission was designed with a variety of plans in mind, including the Ten-Year Urban Forestry Action Plan and federal initiatives such as Justice40, as well as more local plans including the Pennsylvania Forest Plan and the Easton Climate Action Plan. As noted by the USDA, \u201cStudies show that trees in communities are associated with improved physical and mental health, lower average temperatures during extreme heat, and increased food security, and create new economic opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

        Christopher, the city\u2019s Conservation Manager, applauded the receipt of this grant. \u201cReceiving this grant award will create a monumental shift in our ability to transform areas within the city where we have been struggling to increase the urban canopy and reduce and eliminate hazardous trees. This USDA Grant will emphasize to our residents how serious we are in our commitment to Climate Resiliency and Environmental Equity.\u201d<\/p>\n

        The first stages of the program, which include identification of applicable tree locations and the bidding of tree trimming\/removal and stump grinding, are anticipated to begin in the spring of 2024, with the program projected to conclude in the fall of 2028. Throughout its duration, the Equity Project will seek to solicit the feedback of homeowners and employ increased signage to educate residents on the environmental and financial benefits of street trees.<\/p>\n

        Learn more about the announcement on the USDA Forest Service web site here: https:\/\/www.fs.usda.gov\/managing-land\/urban-forests\/ucf\/2023-grant-funding<\/a><\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

         
        \nInformation provided to TVL by:
        \nTracey Werner
        \nCity of Easton Marketing Consultant<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        EASTON, PA \u2013 September 19, 2023 \u2013 Last week, the City of Easton was notified that it had been selected among 385 recipients to receive a $1 million grant, the … Continue reading City of Easton Receives $1 million via USDA Grant Program for Urban Forestry Equity Project<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":122733,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5718,69,482],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-122732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-easton","category-in-the-valley","category-press-release-2"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/urban-canopy.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122732"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=122732"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122732\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/122733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=122732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=122732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=122732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}