The Nebraska Statewide Arboretum (NSA) was recently awarded a $10 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service and made possible by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to strengthen Nebraska’s urban forest infrastructure in disadvantaged communities across Nebraska. NSA will do this through tree planting, tree maintenance and removal and workforce development in both urban and rural areas of the state.
The Nebraska Statewide Arboretum will serve as a “pass-through” administrator of the $10 million grant by creating competitive sub-award programs under its current granting structure to accomplish the objectives over the five-year grant period.
One hundred percent of the urban and community forest infrastructure work that will take place with the IRA grant funds will align with the Justice40 Initiative, which aims to bring resources to disadvantaged communities most impacted by climate change, pollution and environmental hazards.
For more information about whether you or your community could qualify for grant funding as part of this program, please see the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool. Enter your zip code or city/town in the search box to see if your area aligns with the Justice40 Initiative as a disadvantaged community (based on census data).
The USDA has not distributed grant funding to award recipients yet; this process could take several months. We will post more information about the grant application process on this web page as it develops. If you would like to receive updated information via email, please sign up for email alerts below.
