The Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission (NIRPC) is accepting applications for the Fall 2023 planting season through the CommuniTree Community Tree Grant Program. Applications and details can be found at bit.ly/NIRPCCommuniTree. Applications are due July 31, 2023.
Eligible applicants include public entities such as municipalities, neighborhoods, schools, churches, and conservation, community or service organizations. In most cases, trees must be planted in public spaces such as parks, schools, churches, and along public roadway easements within Northwest Indiana’s Lake Michigan Watershed.
Applicants receiving trees must agree to properly plant and maintain trees. Training will be provided.
NIRPC is a partner in CommuniTree Calumet. Trees are essential in Northwest Indiana’s communities. They help clean the region’s air and water, reduce flooding, sequester carbon, create habitat for wildlife, and provide crucial social and health benefits for people.
CommuniTree is an alliance of residents, not-for-profits, universities, government agencies, and businesses working to create a more healthy, sustainable, and equitable urban forest for quality of life in the Calumet Region. Together, partners, including NIRPC, the Student Conservation Association, and Wildlife Habitat Council, have planted over 10,000 trees throughout Northwest Indiana!
Funding for the CommuniTree Community Tree Grant Program is made possible through a Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grant awarded to the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission by the USDA Forest Service. Learn more at http://bit.ly/CommuniTreeCalumet.
NIRPC is the regional council of local governments and federally designated Metropolitan Planning Organization for Northwest Indiana. NIRPC’s purpose is to “provide a coordinative management process for Lake, Porter, and LaPorte Counties and to institute and maintain a comprehensive planning and programming process for transportation, economic development, and environmental policy.”
CommuniTree volunteers plant a tree with the Student Conservation Association.