State Forest Service awards $1.6 million to improve urban tree canopies in Alamosa, Salida, Trinidad and more

Awards for the Urban and Community Forestry grant program through the state forest service are funding tree projects in underserved and marginalized areas throughout the state.

The money comes from the Federal Inflation Reduction Act and is dispersed through the Colorado State Forest Service. 

“This is a historic investment in trees,” said Matt McCombs, state forester and director of the Colorado State Forest Service, in a statement. “Healthy trees and a flourishing urban canopy will improve the lives of Coloradans by providing more shade, cleaner air, and more beautiful places to work, live and play.”

Eligible projects address: 

  • Tree planting, pruning, removal and watering 
  • Irrigation installation  
  • Urban forest management plans 
  • Capacity building activities 
  • Tree inventories 
  • Green career development 
  • Urban wood utilization 

“Many of these towns don’t have dedicated forestry staff,” said Cori Carpenter, tree equity specialist with the Forest Service, in a statement announcing the awards. “So this funding source is really the only way they can make much-needed improvements to their community’s tree canopy.”

Applicants in the first round of funding included 23 eligible projects totaling more than $4.7 million.

Ultimately, the $ 1.6 million award is being divided among 11 projects in eight counties.

Awards are going to: 

  • Adams: Brighton's Equitable Expansion of Tree Canopy (BEET) & Riverwalk Tree Planting
  • Alamosa: South Alamosa Tree Equity Project & Landscaping and Forestry in the San Luis Valley
  • Boulder: Longmont Urban Forest Resiliency
  • Chaffee: Salida Adopt a Tree
  • Las Animas: Trinidad Tree Project
  • Mesa: Community Urban Canopy Enhancement Project
  • Sedgwick: NE Trees of the Plains
  • Yuma: Wray Tree Revitalization Project & Yuma Tree Recovery Project

Application for the next round of funding opens in spring 2025.