About Community Urban Forestry
Indiana Division of Forestry's Community Urban Forestry Program provides guidance and grants to communities for development and caretaking of urban forests.
An urban tree canopy is part of a community’s infrastructure and creates valuable environmental, economic, and social benefits. Well-managed urban forests pay back nearly three times the cost to plant and maintain them.
More than 80 percent of the urban forest is in our own back yard. As society becomes more urbanized and sprawls into rural areas, forests, wooded edges, and woodlots in urban areas are an increasingly important resource.
Contact us at:
Division of Forestry
402 W. Washington St.
W296 Indianapolis, IN 46204
317-234-6568
E-mail: urbanforestry@dnr.IN.gov
Grants
Funds are made available to Indiana communities for public tree inventories and management planning, tree planting, education and outreach materials, and other related projects depending of funding source priorities.
Indiana Tree Stewards
The Indiana Community Tree Steward Program is offered three times a year throughout the state. Participants learn about the basics of urban tree care and how to communicate the benefits of urban trees. Attendees are asked to then use their skills by volunteering 15 hours of service to local communities to improve or maintain the urban forest.
Training
All in-person Tree Steward classes for 2020 have been canceled. Please check back at a later date for information regarding 2021 classes.
View the Urban Forestry Calendar >>
Tree City USA & National Arbor Day Foundation Programs
The Community & Urban Forestry program is a partner with the Tree City USA program. In 2018, Indiana has 63 Tree City USA Communities, 11 Tree Campus USA Schools, and five Tree Line USA Utilities.
Requirements of becoming a Tree City USA include:
- Appoint a tree board or city department to manage the tree care program.
- Have or pass a public tree care ordinance.
- Spend a minimum of $2 per capita on a community forestry program.
- Have an Arbor Day proclamation and hold an Arbor Day event.