2024 Centering Communities in Canopy Solutions Grants

Yes, the purchase of trees and woody species are allowed under this grant and can reflect the priorities of community members which may include species with intersectional, or cultural value. DNR does restrict the purchase of noxious species, ash trees, and other select species that are overrepresented in a city’s canopy. Staff can provide the most recent urban forest inventory assessment to guide awardees’ selections.

Yes. DNR has received a small number of partnership interest inquiries and will share that information if there are appropriate groups. If there are not, DNR works to identify community-based organizations that may be present in specific geographic boundaries and offer to introduce them to inquiring larger institutions (i.e. school, neighborhood association, friends-of-groups, or other volunteer organization representatives).

Yes. Visitors can find this information on our Centering Communities grant web page or view the recording here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1y3lhQ6_oZA

Yes. Organizations with capacity to implement planting programs can be written into applications. These organizations should possess background, training, and or certification/licensure to conduct activities and educate community members on proper planting practices. If licensed arborists are not on staff, please document how professional guidance will be provided for planting activities.

Yes. DNR welcomes applications which removes barriers to residents receiving/planting trees including the costs of purchasing trees, properly planting trees, or maintaining newly planted trees.

100% of Centering Communities in Canopy Solutions funding must be applied to environmental justice census tracts. Grant reporting will be conducted at that census tract level, and no purchases used to serve other areas of community will be reimbursed. If you have questions about which census tracts qualify in your community, please refer to DNR’s screening tool: Minnesota Inflation Reduction Act Eligible Communities (state.mn.us), or email DNR staff at [email protected].

Yes. Your 3-year maintenance plan for newly planted trees should include any outreach and education offered to residents around tree planting, any supports offered to maintain trees, and whether you have a bi-yearly/annual monitoring system in place. If components of this plan are missing, DNR will work with awardees to ensure gaps are addressed/mitigated.

No, all planting data must be reported at the census tract level. Groups will also report the number of trees planted, and what species. Qualitative stories of resident tree recipients are encouraged to share the impact that Centering Communities funding is making in communities.

You can include input/engagement in a project across the city but will need to report accomplishments and request reimbursement for activities performed only in the census tracts that are eligible for funding. For example, you may use Centering Communities funding for materials and staff time to accomplish work in eligible areas. If your program provides outreach and education materials for the project that would be viewable by the entire city you can submit for reimbursement for those costs (i.e., a website or social media posting, flyers posted to community centers or other public location, or newspaper announcement).

Try to host outreach events in EJ areas, but we understand that you can’t ask people at an event what their address is. You can also perform targeted outreach (i.e. mailers, phone calls, or door-to-door efforts) in eligible areas to try and connect with residents in neighborhoods where you’ll be conducting work.

Yes, we welcome any effort to make informational resources accessible, whether different languages, formats, or including accessibility for hearing or visually impaired people. These would be an eligible expense. You can hire external translators, or contract with community members to provide translation services. This is one suggestion for maximizing project benefits to environmental justice communities.

How can we make sure to adhere to formatting guidelines? You may upload the document into google drive/docs to edit file with your responses. When you’re ready to submit, download the file as a Microsoft Word Document (.doc).

Wholesale tree prices are lower than retail prices but do not include 12-month warranties. If trees fail within that period, the purchaser assumes the risk of replacing those materials. DNR does not prohibit project managers from using wholesale membership to purchase trees but cannot provide additional funds to replace failed trees/shrubs.

You may bundle communities, but no individual application will be eligible to receive more than the $100,000 maximum award. For this reason, if your communities are eligible applicants, we would request they apply individually with your support.

DNR will announce award decisions which are informed by the grant review committee scoring and panel discussions. If the total amount requested from awarded projects exceeds $1M, DNR may request awardees accept a reduced amount to maximize the statewide impact of this funding.

In addition to Centering Communities, there are several Inflation Reduction Act funded urban and community forestry specific projects. If you are working with another organization on IRA funded projects, you will need to make sure you are not duplicating work. Suggestions for accomplishing this are to separate work performed by census tracts or develop a proposal that uniquely adds to your efforts (i.e., you are contracted with another IRA funded organization to plant trees, but you submit a DNR proposal to develop a community education program that informs residents about trees, tree care, and urban forest management). DNR Centering Communities awardees will need to document what is specifically accomplished with this funding, and separate projects so you are not being reimbursed 2x for the same work.

Watering truck, auger or other site prep equipment like a forestry mulcher. You can rent these things within the allowable expenditure amount; you just can’t purchase them.

We encourage you to mulch around the tree for both moisture retention and protection from lawn mowers or other equipment. Mulch is an allowable expense.

This would be new practices that haven’t previously been assessed by DNR such as using a novel chemical that is new on the market for treatment of a forest health issue or using techniques to treat invasive species that are not data/research supported.

October 28th, 2024 at 11:59 pm. No applications or application materials received after this date/time will be accepted.

Yes, you may hire staff using this grant. They can be full/part time employees, or temporary hires. When you submit for reimbursement, their labor invoices must reflect that their time was directly related to urban and community forestry project(s).

Yes, outreach materials including signs are an eligible expense. Signage for projects can also be translated in multiple languages.

DNR is committed to flexible reimbursement which serves our partner’s capacity to conduct work without straining an organization’s finances. Having said that, there is an unavoidable turnaround time for submitting reimbursements to receiving reimbursement payments. When grantees submit reimbursement paperwork, DNR staff review it for accuracy and eligible expenses. Once approved, they are forwarded to payments staff and are typically paid within three weeks but may take longer.