Green Horizons

MDC offers TRIM grants

Deadline for Tree Resource Improvement and Maintenance (TRIM) cost-share grant applications is June 1.

The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) is offering grants to assist government agencies, public schools and nonprofit groups with the management, improvement and conservation of trees and forests on public land.

These grants, called the Tree Resource Improvement and Maintenance (TRIM) cost-share grants, are from $1,000 to $25,000, and can help communities fund tree inventories, removal or pruning of hazardous trees, tree planting and the training of volunteers and city and county employees on how to best care for community forests. Through a grant from the U.S. Forest Service, it is possible to gain additional funding for emerald ash borer management. The deadline for TRIM grant applications is June 1.

TRIM grants are administered by MDC in cooperation with the Missouri Community Forest Council and the U.S. Forest Service. The program provides reimbursements between $1,000 and $25,000 to grant recipients to fund up to 60 percent of money needed for projects. Projects that are located in communities with The Arbor Day Foundation’s Tree City USA designation are eligible for an additional 10 percent in matching funds.

Grant proposals are assessed on a competitive basis for their value to the community, thoroughness as a tree-management program, the ability to promote, improve and develop a community’s urban forest, and economic feasibility.

More information on TRIM grants, including the application for the grant and workbooks, can be found at mdc.mo.gov/node/11123.