MDC offers TRIM grants for community forest improvements

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo – The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) is offering grants to assist government agencies, public schools and non-profit groups with the management, improvement and conservation of trees and forests on public land. The Tree Resource Improvement and Maintenance (TRIM) cost-share grants can help communities fund tree inventories, removal or pruning of hazardous trees, tree planting and the training of volunteers and city/county employees to best care for community forests.

TRIM grants are administered by MDC in cooperation with the Missouri Community Forest Council. The program provides reimbursements of $1,000 to $10,000 to grant recipients to fund up to 60 percent of money needed for projects. Projects located in communities with The Arbor Day Foundation’s Tree City USA designation are eligible for an additional 10 percent in matching funds.

Proposals are assessed on a competitive basis for their value to the community, thoroughness as a tree-management program, the ability to promote, improve and develop a community's urban forest, and economic feasibility.

TRIM applicants must submit a completed application by June 1 that details project costs and funding sources, maps and drawings of the project site, a three-year maintenance plan for the project and a letter of approval from the governmental body owning the proposed project site.

To assist potential grant applicants, MDC will hold TRIM-grant workshops throughout the state.

• MDC will hold a TRIM-grant workshop at its Anita B. Gorman Conservation Discovery Center in Kansas City, 4750 Troost Ave., March 29, 10 a.m. to noon. Contact MDC Urban Forester Wendy Sangster at 816-759-7305.
• MDC will hold a TRIM-grant workshop at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Office in Hannibal, 653 Clinic Road, April 2, 4 to 6:30 p.m. Contact MDC Resource Forester David Vance at 573-248-2530
• MDC will hold a TRIM-grant workshop at its St. Joseph Regional Office, 701 James McCarthy Drive, April 3 at 2 p.m. Contact MDC Resource Forester Lonnie Messbarger at 816-271-3100.
• MDC will hold a TRIM-grant workshop at the Wildcat Glades Conservation and Audubon Center in Joplin, 201 W. Riviera Drive, April 11, 10 a.m. to noon. Contact MDC Urban Forester Jon Skinner at 417-629-3423.
• MDC will hold a TRIM-grant workshop at its Southwest Regional Office in Springfield, 2630 N. Mayfair Ave., April 18, 10 a.m. to noon. Contact MDC Urban Forester Cindy Garner at 417-895-6880.
• MDC will hold a TRIM-grant workshop at its Powder Valley Nature Center in Kirkwood, 11715 Cragwold Road, April 25 at 6 p.m. Contact MDC Urban Forester Mark Grueber at 314-301-1506.

For more information on TRIM grants, including grant application and workbook, visit mdc.mo.gov/node/11123.