Communities Caring for Canopy grants are VT UCF's standard grant category that provides seed funding to help communities develop and sustain programs for the advancement of urban and community trees and forests. 

Funding for Caring for Canopy grants comes from the USDA Forest Service.  This year, we are pleased to support six projects with grants ranging from $3,500 to $8,010 and totaling over $40k.  These grants will support:

• The Town of Johnson (Lamoille County) to create a community fruit tree orchard, and to plant and maintain trees in the public right-of-way in the village center.
   
• The Village of North Bennington (Bennington County) to remove and replace an important tree at a busy downtown intersection, and to plant 10 trees at a high-use public playing field.
   
• The Town of Chittenden (Rutland County) to inventory ash trees along town roads and create an emerald ash borer preparedness plan.
   
• The Town of Marshfield (Washington County) to plant up to 700 trees at riparian buyout properties across the community.
   
• The Town of Townshend (Windham County) to prune and/or remove dead and risk trees within the public right-of-way along a heavily traveled road.  
   
• The Town of Saint Albans (Franklin County) to plant up to 30 trees at Cohen Park, where the presence of the emerald ash borer has resulted in the removal of many shade-giving ash trees.  

Congratulations to the grant recipients and we look forward to seeing the impact of this great and important work!