A St. Paul tree-planting program focused on neighborhoods most lacking in tree canopy has lost its funding.

Urban Roots, a St. Paul nonprofit whose mission is to “cultivate and empower youth through nature, healthy food and community,” was told April 16 that U.S Department of Agriculture Forest Service funding for one of their programs would no longer continue.

Yee Leng Thao, left, and Moua Yang of Urban Roots plant trees in a recent reforestation project. (Courtesy of Urban Roots)

“We were just told that the funding source had been terminated and that we were to immediately halt work on that project,” executive director Hayley Ball said.

The three-year, $67,000 Climate Smart Seedling Production Network grant was aimed at creating climate-resilient seedlings to be planted in Minnesota. Ball said the USDA-funded Nature Conservancy project was in its first year.

“It’s incredibly important that as we are losing trees, and we have an ever-changing climate, we’re able to replace them with varieties that are going to be more resilient and create better outcomes for residents that live in the areas that we work in,” Ball said.

The three-year project was largely led by the organization’s youth interns who were examining how to restore trees to the areas with the least canopy coverage in St. Paul.

Ball said the cut not only impacts the number of trees that would have been planted by the organization, it also impacts their ability to pay their youth interns.

“We’re going to need to find other funding sources to cover those wages over time,” Ball said. “We’ve worked on trying to fill some of that gap, but we’re not quite there yet.”

Concerned and awaiting

Other tree-planting programs are preparing for potential cuts.

In 2023, Great River Greening was awarded a $10 million grant from the USDA Forest Service, funded by the Inflation Reduction Act, to support their Cooling Minnesota Communities program. The goal of the program is to plant and water 10,000 trees in Minnesota over five years, remove dead and hazardous ash trees and expand tree canopies in communities with the least coverage.

“This winter, when there was the (funding) freeze, we stopped doing work on this,” executive director Kateri Routh said. “We have re-engaged doing that work thanks to some updated information and clarity from the USDA Forest Service, but we’re still awaiting a formal review by the USDA of this contract, as is every organization that was awarded these funds.”

While Great River Greening and many of its partners have not lost funding, they said the cuts that have occurred elsewhere are cause for concern.

“Take a look at the federal funding for trees,” Routh said. “If this work gets cut, that’s an immediate negative impact on all of these communities that could have been planting trees with dollars that were fully approved.”

Patricia Ohmans, founder of Frogtown Green, has lived in St. Paul’s Frogtown neighborhood for 45 years and said she is like Dr. Seuss’s “Lorax” character.

Patricia Ohmans, founder of Frogtown Green. (Courtesy of Frogtown Green)

“I speak for the trees, and speak for the environment in a neighborhood that has a lot of environmental and climate change-related challenges,” Ohmans said.

Frogtown has some of the lowest tree canopy coverage in Minnesota, Ohmans said, citing research conducted by the St. Paul City Forestry Unit. It also has high levels of air and soil pollution and less green space per child than any other residential neighborhood.

“What drives us forward is that even in an era and an administration where the idea of equity is not as popular, we’re about environmental equity in a neighborhood that needs it,” Ohmans said.

Through a subcontract with Great River Greening, Frogtown Green had planned to plant 365 trees, Ohmans said, and now that goal hangs in limbo and the organization has begun scaling back.

“It’s a contract that’s been signed by all parties, including Great River Greening, including us, including the federal government, but it’s in jeopardy, in ways that we don’t understand,” Ohmans said.

When asked about the cuts, the U.S. Forest Service said it “has been making payments for work that had already been completed on existing contracts and agreements since Feb. 24.”

“Programs will continue to undergo review to ensure alignment with the President’s priorities,” a USDA spokesperson said.

Banding together

On Earth Day last week, 10 nonprofits including Urban Roots, Great River Greening and Frogtown Green hosted a fundraiser in hopes of raising more than $250,000 to support environmental initiatives in Minnesota. So far, they have raised close to $40,000. Donations are still being accepted at givemn.org/organization/Earth-Day-Collaborative.

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Urban Roots, Great River Greening and Frogtown Green each run neighborhood programs with opportunities for residents to plant trees supplied by them, along with other initiatives funded by donations and state grants that help plant trees and support Minnesota’s natural habitats.

Routh said she hopes people who care will advocate for trees to be planted across Minnesota and contribute to local environmental organizations.

“I do think there’s still hope,” Routh said. “I think there’s a way to find common ground for us to do this work, and keep it as apolitical as possible, quite frankly, because all of us benefit from clean air, from healthy water, and from resilient habitats.”

Online

To learn more about the organizations and find out how to plant a free tree, visit their websites: urbanrootsmn.org, frogtowngreen.com and greatrivergreening.org.