Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Environment topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
State forestry specialist offers free city grants, tree-canopy mapping and technical help
Summary
Anne Heiler of the South Carolina Forestry Commission outlined 2025 grant offerings for municipalities — four free-to-cities items (tree canopy map, ecosystem-benefits modeling, tree-code audit, planting plan) and other 80/20 cost-share grants — and offered direct technical assistance and Tree City USA support.
Anne Heiler, urban-forestry specialist for the South Carolina Forestry Commission’s Piedmont Region, presented available grant programs and technical services for Packlett. She described four programs the commission typically provides free to municipalities — a tree canopy cover map, ecosystem benefits modeling, a tree-code audit, and a tree-planting plan — and explained that other assistance is generally offered on an 80/20 cost-share.
Heiler said the grants are funded by the U.S. Forest Service and availability depends on federal budgets. She told council: "4 of them were absolutely free to cities." She offered to send application materials, to host a webinar in October and to provide hands-on walk-and-talk assistance for local tree projects. Heiler also described partners that run free tree giveaways, including Trees Upstate and TreesSC, noting Duke Energy’s past support for giveaways in the region.
