The City of Duluth has been awarded a Community Tree Planting grant of $213,705 from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR). The funding will support the removal and replacement of boulevard trees lost to emerald ash borer (EAB) damage in 10 neighborhoods across Duluth.
The DNR’s Community Tree Planting grant program prioritizes awards for projects that are located in census block groups with an increased risk of potential community vulnerability using the supplemental demographic index score in the 70th percentile or higher, where the index value is based on percentages of the community in the following categories: low-income, persons with disabilities, less than high school education, limited English speaking, and/or low life expectancy. Duluth’s neighborhoods that are prioritized under this program include: Fond du Lac, portions of Gary-New Duluth, portions of Cody, Lincoln Park, Central Hillside, Central Business District and East Hillside, as well as portions of Kenwood, Woodland and Endion.
The grant funds will support removal of 600 dead or dying boulevard ash trees and replacement plantings of a variety of native and climate-adapted species within these ten neighborhoods. The City of Duluth has been working diligently to respond to dead and dying ash trees since October of 2015 when the invasive emerald ash borer was confirmed in Duluth. City staff and equipment capacity is outpaced by EAB damage, in addition to the typical workload maintaining Duluth’s urban forest.
The priority in recent years has been cutting the dead and dying trees to remove the standing biomass, which presents the greatest public safety threat posed by the brittle, dead trees that are at a high and unpredictable risk of structural failure. Capacity constraints have left Duluth with a backlog of ash stumps that must be removed to accommodate replacement plantings.
The awarded funding will allow the City of Duluth to hire qualified contractors to remove 513 dead ash stumps and remove 87 dangerous trees efficiently and safely. City of Duluth staff will replace these removals within neighborhoods identified as priority areas to support urban canopy recovery. The work to remove and replace affected tress will begin this summer and will last through fall.
Residents can learn more about Duluth’s urban forestry and about invasive EAB by visiting the City’s website.
