Lansing hopes new tree-planting program will bear fruit

When Lori Welch was named Lansing’s sustainability manager in 2020, her first order of business was to create a Sustainability Action Plan —a roadmap to help guide the city in its efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change. One environmental goal it identified was a need to plant trees citywide. 

“We knew that we wanted a canopy increase, because we were having to remove more trees than we could add,” Welch explained. “But we were lacking the resources and staff to be able to do something significant enough to change that. So, we started actively looking for funding opportunities.”

Welch said she “pounced” on a new, $1.5 billion federal urban forestry grant program funded by the Inflation Reduction Act. Her efforts secured $5 million.

As a result, Lansing will soon start planting 2,000 trees citywide. To meet U.S. Agriculture Department guidelines, the project needs to prioritize “disadvantaged” neighborhoods. Seventy percent of Lansing qualifies, according to the White House Council on Environmental Quality’s Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool.

Asia Dowtin, an urban forestry professor at Michigan State University, said these areas often include parts of the city where historically racist urban practices like redlining have left lingering negative impacts.

The proliferation of highways, such as Interstate 496, in or near these neighborhoods, for example, left fewer and fewer trees behind. In the decades since, scientific studies have consistently linked higher levels of exposure to trees with physical and mental health benefits like decreased stress, lower obesity rates and fewer premature deaths.

“Over the past few years, there’s been a strong, rich and compelling body of data that has shown that the people who tend to be the most at risk for the adverse effects of climate change are the folks who live in these communities,” Dowtin explained.

In awarding the grants, Dowtin said the USDA recognized a crucial opportunity to start correcting that issue in “neighborhoods that had not been invested in for decades.”

“The government started looking at the fact that, when a heat wave takes place, the neighborhoods where more people are dying are these under-resourced communities, which just so happen to be where we have fewer trees,” she added.

The funds will help an understaffed Forestry Division of the Public Service Department bolster its efforts. The forestry staff has four vacancies out of its 13 paid positions.

While two could be filled soon, Senior Forestry Supervisor Dominic Fucciolo added that the total is still nowhere near its peak of 36 staff members in 1966.

“Over the years, the number of parks, trails and subdivisions have increased. However, the size of forestry workforce has not matched these changes,” Fucciolo said. “The biggest challenge is that, to maximize the health and life of our trees, we need to be able to carry out an effective preventative maintenance program. Much of our time is reactionary and dedicated to removing hazards.”

To address the issue in the short term, Welch will use some grant money “for contracted tree planting and maintenance.”

In the long term, the grant will also help fortify the local forestry pipeline through a new workforce development program and internships designed in partnership with the Lansing School District and MSU’s Forestry Department.

“The idea is that, down the road, this will help train some more skilled people who can help the city and other organizations in the area who need qualified forestry staff,” Welch said. “Again, we’re putting an emphasis on doing that within our most disadvantaged communities, because we want to provide these opportunities where it’s needed most.”

Tyler Schneider/City Pulse Construction of Interstate 496 in the 1960s wiped out a historically Black neighborhood south of downtown Lansing and …

Some funds has also been allocated to help the Lansing Board of Water & Light tackle its efforts to maintain trees that help decrease stormwater runoff and prevent flooding. According to a 2022 study of the city’s tree canopy coverage, Lansing’s existing tree stock helped save $19 million by mitigating 214 million gallons of excess water that would otherwise enter the city stormwater system.

That same study determined that, while 31% of the city is shaded by trees, they “are not equally distributed across the city.” The areas with the least canopy coverage include Downtown Lansing and much of the city’s urban core, which sat at or below 20%. The Fourth Ward was also below the ideal rate at 23%, versus 29% for the First Ward and 37% for both the Second and Third Wards. In an ideal world, all would be between 30% and 40%.

To determine where the trees should be planted and which species should be included in the mix, Welch is planning a series of community meetings.

“We want to hear from citizens about their needs and experiences. There’s an opportunity here, a call to action, and we hope people come to the table,” Welch said.

Emily Huff, another MSU forestry professor and president of the Michigan Forest Association, applauded Lansing’s efforts.

“As political winds shift and change, the emphasis on climate change has given cities the impetus for investing in these spaces,” Huff said. “It would be phenomenal if this new investment actually increased the capacity to not only hire more paid staff, but also to kind of prove to these cities that this is a valuable asset to support.”

Dowtin noted that there are still some industry challenges ahead.

“One concern with this mass influx of funding is where we’ll get all these new trees, because this grant adds an unprecedented amount of demand,” Dowtin said. “While nurseries are doing their best to meet the demand, they also need to start thinking about what species we may need to be producing more of.”

Huff agreed, adding that Lansing should prioritize planting “a portfolio of different tree species that give the city more resilience” from pests and pathogens like the emerald ash borer and Dutch elm disease.

Fucciolo, a 31-year veteran of Lansing’s Forestry Division, is well aware of these considerations. Over the past two years, he said, his team has planted more than 700 trees. Some of the 2,000 to be added will be placed along rights-of-way and nearby park lands, in addition to neighborhood streets.

His goal before retirement is to ensure that his team can maintain that work for decades to come.

“Tree planting is an easy and effective way to help improve our city because trees benefit us environmentally, economically, physically, emotionally and spiritually,” he said. “It must, however, be kept in mind that, like children, trees need nurturing and training to become valuable and productive members of our community. It will be up to us to provide that backbone.”

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