The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is taking applications for its Trees for Kids grant program.
The DNR funds to plant trees in public areas of communities like parks, community centers and public schools. Iowa DNR District Forester, Joe Herring, tells RadioOnTheGo News the purpose of the Trees for Kids program is to educate children, teenagers and young adults about the importance of trees and their many benefits.
“The applicant just has to be somebody from a municipal, city government, or a nonprofit can apply, a county can apply, any kind of government entity or nonprofit agency. And the basics of this tree planting grant is that there can be 100% cost share on the cost of the trees. The folks just need to involve education in some way. So bring the youth in on the planting, have kids help out with the planting, make sure there’s an educational component so they learn about the right way to plant them, how to take care of them. And the trees do have to be planted on public or municipal lands.”
Herring says the program is part of an ongoing initiative to restore Iowa’s canopy as a result of severe thunderstorms, diseases, and pests like the emerald ash borer.
“It’s just like investments in long-terms and stock markets, trees take a long time to grow, insect and disease pests that kill trees. And we have a long history of experience with things like Dutch elm disease before the emerald ash borer, as well as a butternut canker and the chestnut blight and oak wilt. But those pests all tend to target one particular genus at a time. And so that’s why diversity and having a variety of baskets to put our eggs into so that we don’t have catastrophic losses all at once. And there’s something like 60 or more different kinds of trees that we can grow here in Iowa.”
Complete lists of trees you can plant in Iowa can be found at your local county extension office and the Iowa DNR website. The Trees for Kids grant application and other materials must be submitted electronically. Applications are due by August 22nd at 4:00 p.m.
