Lynn urban-forest fellow says federal contract termination will cut hundreds of thousands from planting and youth programs

Erica, the City of Lynn’s urban forestry fellow, told the Northampton Urban Forestry Commission on March 19, 2025, that a federal contract tied to a USDA Forest Service urban-and-community-forestry grant was terminated, costing the city most of the funding it had expected to use for tree planting and a youth workforce program.

Erica said Lynn had applied for a $550,000 USDA Forest Service grant that would have paid roughly three years of her full salary, funded 50 public right-of-way trees, and supported a paid workforce-development program for high school students. She said the city has recorded about $85,000 in expenditures to date and has not yet been reimbursed for approximately $20,000. Erica summarized the net effect as an approximate $470,000 shortfall to the city if that $20,000 cannot be recovered.

The loss matters because the grant covered both direct tree work and a paid youth apprenticeship model, Erica said. The workforce element was designed to pay as many as 25 Lynn high-school students at about $18–$25 per hour and to pair classroom and practical projects that would inform the city’s first urban forest plan. The project also included an implementation grant of about $124,000 to prepare 80 tree pits and a separate DCR Greening the Gateway Cities planting of 10 trees.

Erica told commissioners the Lynn planning office used local funds to cover about $25,000 of her salary through May so she could continue key spring work, including Arbor Day activities. She said other fund-raising avenues under consideration include requests to the Essex County Community Foundation, new applications to the Arbor Day Foundation, and municipal or regional grants such as the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness program.

Commissioners on the Northampton panel praised the youth component and asked about how Lynn had structured the program. Erica said the youth work was deliberately designed as a paid, scaffolded experience with a predictable schedule (for example, multi-day blocks) and mentorship so students would receive consistent supervision and career exposure rather than episodic volunteering. She described a pilot student, a 17-year-old who produced a research project linking planting locations to local mental-health indicators and community-service sites — the kind of work Erica said would have fed directly into Lynn’s urban forest plan.

Erica also discussed wildfire and public-safety issues in Lynn. She described a significant fall 2024 wildfire in the Lynn Woods and said she had applied for a community wildfire protection plan grant of roughly $130,000 to coordinate fire-response planning, trails remediation and public outreach. She cited state reporting that showed an unusually active fall wildfire season statewide and urged communities that manage large reservations to consider wildfire planning.

Erica named partners and programs involved with Lynn’s work, including Roca Inc. (workforce partners for plantings), the Arbor Day Foundation (pass-through partner on some plantings), Mass Tree Wardens (mentors and technical network) and the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (Greening the Gateway Cities). She described hands-on planting this past season — 32 plantings with volunteers and partner crews, many in low-sidewalk and tight-pit conditions common to Lynn.

Erica asked the Northampton commissioners for feedback on youth programming, tree-pit design, and ways to build public–private partnerships to preserve the program despite the federal cut. Commission chair Rich Parceliti praised the youth emphasis and civic partnership approach and encouraged Erica’s continued work; other commissioners described local efforts in Northampton to sustain plantings through private donors, volunteers and municipal coordination.

Erica said she planned to present the funding loss and community questions at her tree committee meeting on March 20 and to post slides and maps for public review. She asked communities to consider whether municipal wildfire planning, more robust tree-pit construction, and direct youth apprenticeship models might be useful locally.

Lynn’s funding situation and Erica’s account do not spell out final outcomes for the lost federal funds; Erica said some reimbursements were still pending and several private and regional grant applications were underway. The commission did not take any formal action on Lynn’s situation; the conversation was presented as a briefing and a request for peer input.

Erica closed by asking for advice and contacts that might help secure alternative funding or technical support for tree crews, youth mentorship and wildfire planning.