Greenwich Receives State Grant To Plant New Trees In Town

GREENWICH, CT — It was a "Halloween surprise" this year for Greenwich Director of Environmental Affairs Beth Evans, who checked her email on Oct. 31 to find the town was awarded a fully-funded grant of $49,536 from the state to plant new trees in Byram.

Evans appeared before the Board of Selectmen on Friday to request the authorization of a resolution to accept the grant from the CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CT-DEEP), the first step in the process toward receiving the money. A stop at the Board of Estimate and Taxation is also required.

The selectmen on Friday enthusiastically voted in favor of the resolution.

"My staff put in an application to DEEP under their Trees for Communities grant program, and I hoped we would get it but I really didn't have any true thought that we would," Evans said Friday. "I got notification on Friday, the 31st of October, that we had in fact been fully funded."

There were 32 applicants in total for this round of funding, with a total request amount of $4 million, according to CT-DEEP, which hasd just $950,000 to distribute.

The project, titled Byram Branches, aims to plant trees on town property and private property in Byram "to increase the urban tree canopy and help with all sorts of health and environmental issues," Evans noted.

CT-DEEP's Trees for Communities grant program says it "addresses the uneven distribution of tree canopy across Connecticut by providing financial support for urban forestry projects in communities of need."

Projects must increase tree cover or contribute to other urban forestry objectives such as improvement of forest health or utilization of urban wood, CT-DEEP notes on its website. Projects must also be rooted in community support and demonstrate efforts to meaningfully incorporate community needs into project design.

"We have some very enthusiastic residents who are looking forward to participating," Evans said.

"As part of the program, we'll be doing public outreach and education, and we will also be working with Parks and Recreation for actually installing the trees. Not only do people get trees, but they get them installed in appropriate places at the appropriate time of year. It's a win-win, and I am delighted we were selected."

First Selectman Fred Camillo called the grant "a welcome development" for the town.

"What a great treat to have. It's way healthier than a lot of peanut butter cups," said Selectperson Janet Stone McGuigan.

"This was not a trick," quipped Selectwoman Lauren Rabin. "It was a treat."

Evans did not specify when trees could be planted in the ground, or how many will be procured.