At the beginning of December, Gossips reported that the Conservation Advisory Council had funding to plant 24 trees in 2023. A $7,850 grant from National Grid was sufficient to plant nine trees, and the rest of the funding needed had been included in the city budget for 2023. Today, the CAC announced that another grant has been received for planting trees. This one, for $32,075, is from Partners for Climate Action Hudson Valley.
What follows it the press release received from the CAC announcing the grant:
The City of Hudson's Conservation Advisory Council (CAC), in partnership with Hudson Development Corporation (HDC), is pleased to announce the award of $32,075 toward the planting of new street trees in Hudson. "HDC's mission to support the city's business community extends beyond economic development to supporting CAC's initiative of bringing the natural world, and all the benefits therein, to our beloved city center," said Misty McGee, HDC's executive director.
Partners for Climate Action Hudson Valley notified Britt Zuckerman, author of the grant proposal, in January 2023 that her seven-page application for an Ecological Restoration Grant received enthusiastic support from the committee of reviewers.
Putting landscape at the center of long-term planning can serve as a catalyst for improved quality of life and infrastructure. Hudson has the smallest ratio of green space to hardscape of any municipality in Columbia County. Strengthening our street tree canopy will begin to correct this imbalance. This means limiting the impermeable surfaces in Hudson, providing shade and biodiversity, and looking for ways to sequester carbon. The newly planted trees will capture stormwater runoff, lower the urban heat island index, dampen the acoustics of the truck route and urban traffic, and help remediate air quality for lower asthma rates.
"The history of of the Hudson Valley," says Zuckerman, "is one rooted in stewardship of the land. The new trees would be primarily native species, helping to correct years of invasive tree plantings, and the under-plantings will support pollinator health, with new soils supporting microbial health."
If you are interested in being a candidate for a new street tree, please reach out to request via this form: https://forms.gle/tUMzMBuCVWd4dRn49.
Pretty soon we won't have to worry about fixing the sidewalks when all the concrete has been removed to make way for trees. Trees that usually don't amount to much.
ReplyDeleteWhen will all the dead trees along upper Union be removed and replaced without the failed runoff catch basin system the State foisted on us several years ago?
B Huston
The CAC is doing great work, much appreciated!
ReplyDelete