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Louisville receives $12 million grant for tree canopy, limit future effects of Urban Heat Island

This is Louisville Parks and Recreation's largest grant to date.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville Parks and Recreation received its biggest grant to date on Wednesday. 

The USDA Forest Service gave the city a whopping $12 million to improve the quality of its tree canopy and limit future effects of the Urban Heat Island. 

Louisville will receive the funds over the next five years for its Equitable Forest Initiative. In those five years, the Division of Urban Forestry plans to plant 5000 trees—1000 per year. 

An urban tree canopy is the measure of shade provided to a city by leaves, branches and stems. It beautifies neighborhoods, reduces air pollution and cools down overall temperatures. 

A 2019 canopy assessment said 39% of Louisville's land is covered. Local non-profit Trees Louisville commissioned the assessment. Their executive director, Cindi Sullivan, said the tree canopy in areas targeted by the grant's funds is in the low 20%. The city's goal is 45%. 

"You know when you walk out your door and you've got shade that it feels better," Sullivan said. "So to be able to raise those canopy numbers in those marginalized areas will help us overall for our canopy for everybody."

According to a news release, the Equitable Forest Initiative is a "multi-faceted approach to growing an equitable urban canopy and encouraging holistic sustainability practices for underserved communities in Louisville."

Officials said the grant funding will allow the city to develop a public tree inventory and management plan, tree planting and maintenance in underserved neighborhoods, community outreach to foster environmental stewardship and the creation of a green industry workforce development program. 

"As someone who's planted trees in the city for five plus years, I know it's really easy to get people to pay for tree planting. What's not easy is getting people to pay for the other areas of need," Jacquelyn Eklund said. 

For five years, Eklund been an arborist with Urban Forestry. With these funds, she'll be joined by five others. She said those new positions within the division may open up some time in late spring 2023. 

The release states that a portion of the work identified in the initiative will happen in Justice40 areas. In the Justice40 initiative, a minimum of 40% of federal sending for certain programs - including those related to climate change - go toward "disenfranchised areas." 

These areas are mostly in west, southwest and south central Louisville. Officials said the Equitable Forest Initiative has established 23% of Louisville as a Justice40 area.

“We are so thrilled the USDA team chose Louisville for this major investment,” Mayor Craig Greenberg said. “Louisville is committed to equitably achieving net zero emissions community-wide by 2040. Transformational changes to our urban tree canopy, especially in underserved communities, will go a long way in helping us reach that important goal.”

Greenberg, Congressman Morgan McGarvey, Parks Alliance of Louisville, Olmsted Parks Conservancy and many more all signed letters of support for this project proposal. 

There will be more details announced regarding tree planting and job creation numbers later this fall.

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