Philly Tree Plan implementation gets underway with USDA grant

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Philadelphia is starting to carry out its plan to become a greener, shadier city.

The city, the School District of Philadelphia and a group of nonprofits will soon start spending a $12 million USDA grant to plant, maintain and protect trees in the city.

“Trees are essential for healthy communities,” said Michael Pearson, CEO of the Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC), the nonprofit managing the grant. “They make our air cleaner, our summers cooler, and our streets safer — and they improve our mental health as well as our quality of life.”

The goal of the Philly Tree Plan is to increase tree canopy to 30% throughout the city — which would be a big boost for neighborhoods with very little shade.

The USDA grant, first announced last year, will help fund implementation of the plan. The grant agreement was recently finalized, and the groups can now start spending the money, PHMC officials said.

Areas of the city that were redlined currently have the lowest tree canopy today, according to the city. These canopy disparities contribute to differences in summer temperatures between neighborhoods of up to 22 degrees.

“You go to Cedar Park or you go around Clark Park … there’s gorgeous huge trees,” said state Representative Rick Krajewski, who represents part of West Philly. “You walk 10, 15 minutes to a different ZIP code, and suddenly it’s a tree desert.”

The USDA grant will pay for the administrative costs of setting up a new nonprofit entity, housed under the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, called the Philly Tree Coalition, which will coordinate implementation of the plan, as well as data collection about impacts.

“Working together in loose collaboration is good,” said Matt Rader, president of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. “But working together in formal partnership with clear direction is hugely better.”

The grant will also pay for some of the basic activities recommended in the plan, like planting and maintaining trees. It’ll be focused in areas identified as priority based on several factors, including current tree canopy coverage, health metrics, income, heat exposure and air quality — mainly in South, Southwest, West and North Philly.