***Due to reductions in federal funding, no Partnership grants are available in 2008. For more information, please contact your regional urban forester or the program administrator.***

Partnership grants are designed to start or improve a local urban forestry program or to educate the public about the importance of urban trees. The program will support new initiatives or expand existing programs, but is not intended to substitute for existing budget levels. Grant awards range from $1,000 to $10,000 and must be matched with local funds or in-kind support on a dollar-for-dollar basis. An exception is an application for a new professional staff position, for up to $30,000.

Eligibility
Applicants may include any local or state government entity, schools, or non-profit groups. Projects eligible for funding include staff positions, tree ordinance development, tree inventories, long-range plans, workshops and other formal training sessions, youth and volunteer programs, and the production of public service announcements, brochures, videos, or other educational materials. Funding priority is given to projects that have a long-term impact on the community.

Application Deadline
The application deadline is 5:00 p.m. on July 26, 2007. All applications must be postmarked July 26 or earlier to be considered, and applicants are urged to use an overnight or hand-delivery mail service to insure delivery by the deadline. Grants will be awarded in September and successful applicants will have one year to complete the project activities, beginning October 1. Grant payments will be made as reimbursement for project expenses following review of grant and matching costs.

Examples
The first question many people ask is often, “What sort of project can you accomplish with a Partnership grant?” Certainly, the answer to this question depends on the type of organization you belong to, what your mission is, and what tree problems your community faces. A few specific examples of completed projects are described below and more information about eligible proposals can be found in Section II of the complete application guide.

	The city of West University Place used a grant to prepare a tree preservation ordinance for land development and hire an urban forester to enforce it.
	The cities of Plano, Euless, Southlake, Allen, Round Rock, Pflugerville, Corpus Christi, El Paso, and Brownsville have obtained grants to hire a new urban forester or related professional to lead their municipal tree program.
	The Cross Timbers Urban Forestry Council created a “Citizen Forester” program that helps stretch municipal budgets by training adult volunteers to prune, mulch, and weed trees on public property.
	The City of Denton teamed up with Keep Denton Beautiful to inventory of all the trees on public property and write a plan that addresses tree removal, tree health, and tree replacement.
	Valley Proud Environmental Council leads an annual celebration they call Arboles de Amistad/All Valley Arbor Week, which promotes tree awareness and Arbor Day ceremonies in 30 cities by saturating the airwaves with public service announcements about the importance of trees.

Community Tree Planting Programs
This program is not intended to support site-specific tree planting projects. However, one way to begin a community tree planting program is “NeighborWoods,” which combines volunteer energy with good planning and local business support to plant trees where they can do the most good – in our front yards. For information on how to start a program in your community, click on the link below.

"NeighborWoods" Program Guide: NeighborWoodspdf(160 KB)

Obtaining an Application
Contact the TFS Headquarters office (979-458-6650), your local TFS forester (see TFS Urban Forester contact list), or click below for a copy of the 2007 application guide, which contains a "fillable" application form.