In its fifth round of funding, Cuyahoga County will invest $1 million into its tree canopy by providing financial support for 18 projects for tree plans and tree planting sponsored by area municipalities, neighborhoods, and nonprofits through the Cuyahoga County Healthy Urban Tree Canopy (HUTC) Grant Program. This funding will result in 1 high impact reforestation project, 7 tree planting projects, 5 tree planting and maintenance projects, and 5 urban forestry planning and tree planting projects.

In Program Year 2024, the Healthy Urban Tree Canopy Grant Program received 23 applications, resulting in a total of $1,287,642 in funding requests. Thanks to assistance from the Cleveland Tree Coalition, the top 18 ranked projects will be awarded funding. This round of the grant program brings the County’s total investment into its tree canopy to over $5 million.

“A robust tree canopy is critical to the future of our community’s health and well-being, as trees contribute to climate and temperature regulation, better our air quality and improve the biodiversity of our landscape,” said Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronayne. “Investing in our environment today provides brighter, healthier outcomes for generations to come.”

In 2019, the County’s Urban Tree Canopy Assessment showed slightly more than 96,000 acres (34.7%) of all land in Cuyahoga County is tree canopy, with an additional 371,000 acres being available for tree canopy. The first round of funding identified more than 15,000 sites available for tree planting in multiple municipalities. Projects were selected based on a variety of factors, with special consideration given to projects that align with the County’s equity and vulnerability goals.

The fifth round of grants continues to support the implementation of community urban forestry plans, expands tree canopy through reforestation projects, implements high impact reforestation projects, and supports maintenance efforts on existing canopy trees. The HUTC Grant Program gathers data about each project and monitors its success to better inform project selection and funding for each successive year of grant funding.

“This round of tree canopy grantmaking continues our 5-year commitment to regrow an equitable tree canopy in Cuyahoga County,” said Jenita McGowan, Deputy Chief of Staff, Climate and Sustainability. “Trees are an important tool to enhance the health, beauty and the climate resilience of our community. Trees provide such important services as they help to cool our cities during the summer, absorb stormwater and improve our air quality.”

Approximately 1,500 trees will be planted during this fifth round, which will bring the total number of trees planted through the HUTC Grant Program to more than 13,000.

“We know through our work at County Planning that our communities are investing time and resources to improve active and passive outdoor recreation amenities,” said Executive Director of the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission Mary Cierebiej. “These grant dollars allow communities to not only improve their tree canopy in a thoughtful and intentional way, but also to maintain previous plantings and plan for the future enhancement of their tree canopies to benefit their residents and our environment.”