Case Study: Egg Harbor Municipal Tree Planting

Egg Harbor City (EHC), Atlantic County

Opportunity/Challenges
Egg Harbor City lost 109 trees in the derecho of 6/3/2012 which resulted in a 5.1% loss of tree canopy. Hurricane Sandy saw additional tree loss in the city. This affected all residents of the town, as trees provide significant social, economic, and environmental benefits; trees help build community.

According to American Forests’ Tree Equity Score, EHC has a tree equity as low as 30 in several areas, some of which are over-burdened communities (OBC). Therefore, EHC had a need and continues to have a need to expand its tree canopy. EHC had spent $85,000 to try to mitigate the above noted tree loss. This left EHC with limited financial resources to address the remaining tree canopy loss or to expand its tree canopy.

Partners
The three year project included several government entities and community groups, such as the City of Egg Harbor, EHC Highway Dept. Sustainable EHC, Egg Harbor City School District, Key-Rec Youth Athletic Organization, American Legion, VFW, and Eyren Hafen Land Preserve. EHC and its partners were responsible for various parts of the tree planting project, including ordering the trees, tree planting, and education.

Action
Through this grant, EHC and its partners planted 61 trees at various locations in the city. These locations included public schools, recreation areas, parks and playgrounds and other areas in the city proper.  Some of these plantings took place in over-burdened communities. They also conducted four workshops on sustainable landscaping for residents.

Funding/Resources
EHC applied for and received in 2016 a $30,000 tree planting stewardship grant from DEP’s Urban & Community Forestry (UCF) program. At the time, this grant did not require a match. (Current UCF Stewardship grants require the town to provide a 25% match, which can be in-kind.) To apply for the grant, EHC had to be an accredited community with the NJUCF program. Though not included as part of the NJUCF grant, the American Legion Post in EHC collected contributions from the public to help complete replacing trees lost in the Derecho.

Results and Benefits
Overall, through this stewardship grant 61 trees were successfully planted in EHC providing additional environmental, social, and economic benefits for the community. The community was also educated on sustainable landscaping plans, and encouraged to adopt same with an emphasis on planting native trees.