LA MESA RECEIVES GRANT FROM CAL FIRE TO DEVELOP URBAN FOREST MANAGEMENT PLAN AND PLANT 200 TREES

by ECM | June 19, 2019 2:00 am

Source:  City of La Mesa

June 18, 2019 (La Mesa) – The City of La Mesa has been awarded a $385,000 grant from Cal Fire. The grant will support the continued growth of La Mesa’s urban tree canopy and implementation of the City’s Climate Action Plan (CAP). Through the grant, La Mesa will:

1. Develop a comprehensive Urban Forest Management Plan through a public process to manage the health and growth of the City’s tree canopy for the next 40-50 years;
2. Conduct education and outreach to the public around urban forestry best practices to promote proper care and stewardship of urban trees and;
3. Plant 200 trees along the right-of-way and in public parks to expand the urban canopy within the City.

The City will partner with multiple organizations to implement the grant project, including Urban Corps of San Diego County, La Mesa Beautiful, Tree San Diego and West Coasts Arborists. The project is expected to begin this summer and will extend through the first quarter of 2022.

La Mesa has been designated a Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation for the past 39 years. In March 2018, the City Council adopted the CAP, which charts a course to reduce community-wide greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2035 from the 2010 baseline year. The CAP also establishes a target to plant 500 new trees by 2020 and expand the urban tree canopy from 18% to 33% by 2035 in an effort to sequester carbon and reduce heat island impacts. Funding from Cal Fire will directly support implementation of these goals.

For more information about La Mesa’s CAP and urban forestry efforts, visit http://www.cityoflamesa.com/65/Environmental-Sustainability[1].

Source URL: https://eastcountymagazine.org/la-mesa-receives-grant-cal-fire-develop-urban-forest-management-plan-and-plant-200-trees/