Minnesota ReLeaf Grant Program: 1991 to 2001

A decade of building local capacity to plant, protect and assess the condition of our community forests

Since 1991, nearly 200 communities and counties across Minnesota have completed 361 tree planting, forest health and tree inventory projects. Matching grants totaling $2,741,250 have assisted local units of government, schools, and non-profit groups to expand, enhance, and protect their community forests.

All of these projects are part of the Department of Natural Resource's Minnesota ReLeaf Tree Planting and Preservation Grant Program. Funds were approved by the Minnesota Legislature as recommended by the Legislative Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCMR). Priorities were set and grants were awarded on a competitive basis by ReLeaf Steering Committees in each DNR Region.

Planting for energy conservation
Planting trees to conserve energy is the foundation of MN ReLeaf. Initial funding supported by the U of MN research on tree planting strategies to optimize energy savings. Thus, local projects planted trees in yards to shade east and west facing windows, establish neighborhood and community size windbreaks to reduce heating costs and generally increase tree canopy cover.

Emphasis on education and volunteers
To maximize community-wide benefits, the most successful projects focused on public education and voluntary citizen involvement. Local service groups held workshops and sponsored Arbor Day events and tree voucher programs. To support these efforts, the DNR produced a range of educational materials including publications on home energy conservation, trees native to Minnesota, planting and maintenance and a traveling display and slide show.

Protecting existing trees: ReLeaf Forest Health
Since 1997, 58 ReLeaf Forest Health grants have allowed 42 cities and counties to complete projects that improve and protect the health of their existing trees and forests. These included insect and disease suppression, minimizing the impacts of construction damage in developing areas and community-based education programs.

Most of these grants have been used to replace federal oak wilt suppression funds (ended in '97) and to expand control efforts to all areas with oak wilt (see Oak Wilt fact sheet: Oak wilt 2001). The goal of the state's assistance is to increase local technical exper5tise, citizen awareness and the local share of control costs in order to reduce the reliance on state funding.

Assessments for sustained local management
Starting with the Dutch elm disease epidemic in the 1960's and through the first 8 years of ReLeaf, communities have come to realize the benefits of managing their tree resources along with other public investments. In FY 2000-01 ReLeaf Program, 17 inventory projects were awarded for communities to assess their tree resources. This will allow them to integrate natural resources into their public infrastructure, zoning, and comprehensive planning processes. These projects serve as models to other communities trying to build sustainable programs. 

Building the capacity of local programs
Since 1991, ReLeaf grants have helped nearly 200 communities initiate or expand their tree management programs. Additional assistance and grants for tree inventories and management plans have enabled 64 of these towns to become self-sufficient, as evidenced by their level of routine maintenance, monitoring, funding, citizen support and public education activities.

Local, state, and federal investments
In the last 10 years, the state's investment has been matched over 2:1 by local cash and in-kind contributions, and nearly 4:1 if federal funds are included.
Federal (for oak wilt '91-'97) - $1,950,000
ReLeaf (LCMR + general funds) - $2,741,250
Local match (cash + in-kind) - $8,846,380
Note: The ReLeaf amount does not include DNR costs for administration and technical oversight, which has averaged 9.8% of total grant funds.

Recommendations
The Minnesota Shade Tree Advisory Committee (MnSTAC) believes that for the past 10 years, state funds have been invested wisely to enhance and protect our communities' trees. We recommend that this effort continue in the fiscal 2002 to 2003 biennium by appropriating $300,000 per year for community tree planting and inventory grants, and $500,000 per year for community forest health grants through the Minnesota ReLeaf Program. Authorizing language for the current program can be found in ML 1999, Chp. 231, Sec. 16, Subd. 14(a) and 1999 Senate file 2226.

Minnesota ReLeaf Success Stories

Red Wing inventory integrates trees and streets
"The ReLeaf inventory project was essential to achieving our goal to manage and systematically maintain public trees." Trained city staff and summer workers collected data on road surfaces, traffic control signs, and street trees into a single database. This information will be continuously updates, maintained by the Public Works secretary and be available to all city stagg to use in planning future projects that impact trees. City Tree Inspectors will follow up the field survey with closer inspections of trees that may be hazardous.

Moorhead GIS automates tree management
"This inventory is an opportunity to meld the trees 'as infrastructure' into the process used un engineering and planning in out communities. Any city staff can access the tree inventory at their desktop. The technology will bring a revolution in community decisions." Using ArcView software, data collection took about one minute per tree and will be continuously maintained on over 25, 000 trees and planting sites by the Information Services and Engineering Departments.

Annual maintenance, new tree planting, and replacement, trimming, disease incidence and removal information are included, and will be used in developing maintenance and planting budgets. "We will develop a master tree planting plan using this database. This tool has great potential in post disaster planning."

Duluth assesses forests platted for development
Duluth has over 10,000 acres of publicly owned forests, and it is being lost to development at an unprecedented rate. Using air photos and satellite imagery, this ReLeaf project produced a baseline GIS layer on the location, quality, and extent of this resource. The data was used to develop a community forest management plan as part of the city's comprehensive land use plan. The Duluth MIS Division maintains the GIS layer and all city staff are being trained in its use. "Without this inventory, decision-makers have no objective way to evaluate which areas are appropriate for development.

BMPs for development targets educational needs
Using ReLeaf Forest Health funds, a statewide series of workshops is being held to assist communities facing development pressures. The guidebook Conserving Wooded Areas in Developing Communities: Best Management Practices (BMPs) in Minnesota, created by a collaboration of varied interests, is the foundation for this effort. Meetings with city planners and decision makers and separate technical sessions for builders and developers and natural resource practitioners are being offered by DNR staff and Tree Trust, a Minnesota non-profit. More than 15 cities from Rochester to Brainerd and north to Duluth and Thief River Falls are scheduled to host these events. All communities involved so far have expressed the need for assistance in completing natural resource inventories as a first step in land use and comprehensive planning.

Sherburne County forest health education
These BMP guidelines are also the basis for a county-wide education program for developers and new homeowners in Sherburne County. The county's Tree Board and urban forester provide site specific information during field inspections and via publication, articles, and the county website. Forest stewardship, cultural practices and woodlot management advice are also provided to help mitigate post-construction impacts.

Tornado town gets timely ReLeaf
Regional ReLeaf Steering Committees have always given high priority to requests from communities hot by sever storms. DNR staff coordinate technical assistance to communities struck by storms with a wide variety of local and state organizations. Chandler and Lake Wilson in the early 1990s, and more recently Comfrey, St. Peter, LeCenter, and Granite Falls have all received ReLeaf grants to help reforest their towns. Most of these have also completed ReLeaf inventory projects to plan for routine maintenance and storm preparedness.

SPNEC targets sunnier St. Paul neighborhoods
Every year that ReLeaf grants have been available, the St., Paul Neighborhood Energy Consortium (SPNEC) has organized residential workshops and plantings in the city's more treeless neighborhoods. Air photos are used to identify areas in need and local groups help promote the projects and get the work done. Forestry interns and Extension-trained Tree Care Advisors have proven invaluable in giving yard by yard assistance. All NEC staff are trained to incorporate landscape advice as part of routine home energy audits.

Fosston community windbreaks
Several communities in Minnesota's prairie region have used ReLeaf grants to expand tree planting beyond boulevard reforestation to include windbreak and living snow fence projects. The Fosston Tree Board got help from the East Polk Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) to design evergreen plantings next to the industrial park, as the fairgrounds and along the north side of town. Volunteers planted the trees and continue to help city crews with maintenance. The 8 year old plantings are already providing benefits by buffering winter winds and storing drifting snow.

Communities and Counties Receiving Minnesota ReLeaf Grants: 1991 to 2001