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Owensboro awarded $84,303 federal grant to expand urban tree canopy
Summary
Owensboro received an $84,303 Inflation Reduction Act grant administered by the USDA Forest Service to inventory, protect and plant trees at 10 low‑income-area sites over two years; city staff outlined plans for an ISA-certified arborist, 150 new trees and new canopy-management policies.
Owensboro city officials said the city received an $84,303 grant funded through the Inflation Reduction Act and administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service to expand and improve the city's urban tree canopy.
Parks Director Amanda Rogers told the City Commission on July 15 that the two-year Urban and Community Forestry Program grant, distributed in partnership with the Kentucky Division of Forestry, will fund a tree inventory, risk mitigation, strategic removals and new plantings at 10 locations identified by federal mapping as lower median household income areas.
Rogers said the city will hire a certified International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) arborist to complete a species- and health-level inventory that will be stored in tree-inventory software and integrated with the city's GIS. Grounds manager Adam Wright said that data will be used to prioritize risk mitigation such as pruning, cabling or, where necessary, removal; disposed material will be recycled when feasible to mulch or compost.
The grant requires the city to focus on ten specified sites, Rogers said, highlighting Chautauqua and English parks and named Kendall Perkins, Moneta, Lee, Moreland and Wayman Morris among the locations where work is planned. The plan calls for planting 150 trees during the grant period; staff said they expect at least one planting event this fall, two in spring 2026 and another in fall 2026.
Wright said the arborist will perform soil sampling at individual sites to determine the best species and placement for long-term survival and to avoid future conflicts with utilities. Rogers said she and Wright will develop updated guidelines, policies and maintenance procedures with the arborist to govern long-term care of both existing and newly planted trees.
Commissioner Lee Smith asked whether the program would address downtown trees and older plantings on Second Street; Rogers said that Second Street planters are not funded by the grant but that the new city policy and periodic inventories will inform maintenance decisions across the city's tree inventory.
Rogers and Wright asked for no immediate action; they requested feedback and said staff will return with contract details for the arborist after requesting quotes. The presenters said the city had solicited ISA-listed arborists and was seeking those with municipal and utility experience to reduce conflicts with power lines as trees mature.
Funding and implementation details stated by staff: grant amount $84,303; two-year timeline; inventory and mapping to be done by an ISA-certified arborist; planting target of 150 trees; primary work at 10 park sites identified by federal mapping; public planting events planned fall 2025 through fall 2026.
Rogers encouraged community participation in planting events and said city staff will coordinate public education and marketing for those activities.
