COLUMBUS, OH - Ohio communities can receive up to $15,000 this year for local tree planting projects as part of Governor Bob Taft's Bicentennial Legacy Tree Planting Program. Applications are available through May 6 for approximately $300,000 in urban forestry grants for tree planting efforts along public rights-of-way, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR).
Taft announced the program on Earth Day 1999, with a goal of two million trees being planted - one for each of Ohios school children - before the states 200th anniversary in 2003.
Administered by the ODNR Division of Forestry, the grants are funded by a percentage of air pollution fines collected by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. Grants will be awarded on a competitive basis, with communities providing a 50 percent match in local funds.
Through Ohio's Bicentennial Legacy Tree Planting Program, trees will also be planted along roadways, on abandoned surface-mined lands and on state wildlife areas.
Grant applications and guidelines can be obtained by calling ODNR Division of Forestry at 614-265-6707, or by visiting ODNR web site at ohiodnr.com.
For Further Information Contact:
Drew Todd, ODNR Division of Forestry
(614) 265-6707
-or-
Andy Ware, ODNR Media Relations
(614) 265-6882