SCOTT COUNTY, Iowa — The Iowa DNR has a total of $250,000 to give out for a community-based tree planting program to help the state recover from the 2020 derecho.
Local governments, schools, volunteer organizations and service organizations in the 27 impacted counties included in Governor Kim Reynolds' 2020 disaster proclamation are eligible to apply. Those entities have until March 1 by 4:30 p.m. to submit an application.
You can check out the application and official rules by clicking here.
Award recipients will be reimbursed anywhere from $500 to $5,000 for a required dollar-for-dollar cash match for the purchase of trees and planting materials. Those trees can then be planted on public lands, which include but are not limited to street rights-of-way, parks, courthouse lawns, public buildings, fairgrounds, cemeteries, school grounds, libraries and non-DNR-land trails.
The 2020 derecho swept across Iowa in August of that year, downing an estimated 7.2 million trees, according to a 2021 Iowa DNR report. Cedar Rapids, Des Moines and Davenport suffered the largest losses of trees.
Ellie Jones, Community Disaster Recovery Coordinator for the Iowa DNR and Trees Forever joined The Current on News 8 to discuss the impact of this program and how the state hopes this will help communities and habitats recoup some of the devastating losses. You can watch her full interview in the above video.
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