Washington Department of Natural Resources Seeking Urban Forestry Project Applicants

The Washington DNR Urban and Community Forestry Program is offering grants of up to $40,000 to increase forest health within communities.

Program Manager Ben Thompson explained that after the state legislature recently passed House Bill 1216, his program's available grant funding went from around $90,000 a year to $550,000 annually.

"We're looking for applications from local governments, cities, towns, counties, 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations, tribes, special taxing districts like school districts, parks districts, conservation districts and what have you," said Thompson.

Types of projects that qualify for funding can range from tree planting to data analysis.

If a project is within what the state defines as a highway-impacted location, the entity receiving the grant would only have to provide a 50% match. For those not within highway-impacted areas, the grant's match would have to be 100%.

Applications are due by 4:00 pm on March 4th, 2022. Projects must be completed by June 1st, 2023.

The DNR will also host an hour-long information session online Thursday at 9:00 am. Those interested can register here.