Community Forestry Grants Available Through Project Canopy, the Maine Dept of Agriculture's Community Forestry Program.

 

AUGUSTA, Maine – Project Canopy, the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry’s community forestry program, will award $150,000 in grants to local governments and municipalities, educational institutions and non-profit organizations that support community efforts to develop and maintain long-term community forestry programs. Funded by the U.S. Forest Service, the Project Canopy grants are available in two categories: planning and education grants and tree planting and maintenance grants. The average grants range from $6,000 to $8,000 and require a 50-percent cost-share with cash or in-kind services. Since 2005, Project Canopy has awarded more than $1.5 million in funding for community forestry projects. Project Canopy is a cooperative partnership between the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation, and Forestry’s Bureau of Forestry and GrowSmart Maine. It encourages communities to develop project proposals that support sustainable community forestry management, increase awareness of the benefits of trees and forests, and increase the health and livability of communities through sound tree planting and maintenance. Project Canopy Director Jan Ames Santerre provided recent examples of community projects that can benefit from Project Canopy grants. Projects of note in 2014 include 3 projects in Farmington ($4,000), Kennebunkport ($4,919), and Monmouth ($4,000) for shade tree inventory and management planning for street trees;. and two projects in Fort Kent ($8,000) and Ellsworth ($8,000) that allowed those towns to plant trees in town parks. “In addition to helping communities with general maintenance planning, these grants allow towns to respond to threats from invasive pests such as the emerald ash borer. They can also support community beautification through street tree planting,” said Santerre. The planning and education grants have a maximum award of $10,000, while the planting and maintenance grants have a maximum award of $8,000. To be eligible to apply for a 2015 assistance grant, all applicants must attend a grant workshop before submitting an application. The required grant training will be held Monday, November 9th from 2-4 PM via the web. The workshop will cover such topics as grant writing, project development, sustainable community forestry management and grant administration. Connection details will be sent to those preregistered to attend.  Grant applications are due by 5:00 p.m., Friday, December 4.  To learn more about the Project Canopy Assistance program and to sign up for a grant workshop, contact Project Canopy Director Jan Ames Santerre at (207) 287-4987. More information is available on the web at http://www.projectcanopy.me.