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Community & Urban Forestry

Indiana Division of Forestry's Community Urban Forestry Program provides guidance and grants to communities for the development and caretaking of urban forests.

An urban tree canopy is part of a community’s infrastructure and creates valuable environmental, economic, and social benefits. Well-managed urban forests pay back nearly three times the cost to plant and maintain them.

More than 80 percent of the urban forest is in our own backyard. As society becomes more urbanized and sprawls into rural areas, forests, wooded edges, and woodlots in urban areas are an increasingly important resource.

Contact us at:

Jacob Roos
CUF Program Director
JRoos@dnr.IN.gov
317-234-4386

Grants

Funds are made available to Indiana communities for public tree inventories and management planning, tree planting, education and outreach materials, and other related projects depending on funding source priorities.

Indiana Tree Stewards

The Indiana Community Tree Steward Program is offered three times a year throughout the state. Participants learn about the basics of urban tree care and how to communicate the benefits of urban trees. Attendees are asked to then use their skills by volunteering 15 hours of service to local communities to improve or maintain the urban forest.

Upcoming Events:

Advanced Tree Steward Training Events:

None at this time.

Contact Racheal Stenger at 317-234-6741 or rstenger@dnr.IN.gov for questions about the Tree Steward program.

Tree City USA & National Arbor Day Foundation Programs

The Community & Urban Forestry program is a partner with the Tree City USA program. In 2022, Indiana had 65 Tree City USA communities, 16 Tree Campuses, 6 Tree Line USA, and one Tree Campus K-12 in West Lafayette.

Requirements for becoming a Tree City USA include:

  1. Appoint a tree board or city department to manage the tree care program.
  2. Have or pass a public tree care ordinance.
  3. Spend a minimum of $2 per capita on a community forestry program.
  4. Have an Arbor Day proclamation and hold an Arbor Day event.

National Arbor Day Foundation Programs

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