The largest amount awarded in California was $12 million to the San Francisco Public Works Bureau of Urban Forestry, which seeks to plant and establish “thousands of street trees in low-canopy communities,” according to its project description. The city of San Diego will receive $10 million to conduct community outreach, plant and preserve trees and promote tree equity, among other goals.

“This grant funding will help more cities and towns plant and maintain trees, which in turn will filter out pollution, reduce energy consumption, lower temperatures and provide more Californians access to green spaces in their communities,” read a statement from U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) about the program.

Other grantees include Cal State Northridge, which will put $5 million toward tree planting in disadvantaged Los Angeles neighborhoods. The university will also collaborate with Indigenous organizations to establish community-based tribal nurseries and plant culturally significant native trees, according to its project description.

Los Angeles will also benefit from an $8-million grant for L.A. County Public Works to “address the urban tree canopy deficit within disadvantaged communities in unincorporated L.A. County,” and a $5-million grant to the Los Angeles Housing Authority to conduct a tree inventory, establish an urban food forest and mitigate the urban heat island effect as part of its Greening Watts program.

The city’s Bureau of Sanitation will receive $3 million to plant 2,500 street trees, create 2,300 new tree wells and provide tree watering during the tree establishment period, according to its project description.

Trinidad, of TreePeople, said the billion-dollar investment from the federal government speaks to a much-needed shift in “how we plan around our urban forest and how we look at that as infrastructure.” The funding comes at a crucial time when millions of trees are being lost to drought, wildfires, human development and lack of tree care, he said.

However, Los Angeles has a lackluster track record when it comes to planting and maintaining trees, and came under scrutiny earlier this year for a city proposal to remove more than 12,000 mature trees as part of a sidewalk revamp project. A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge blocked the plan after outcry from tree advocates.

Trinidad said that urban forestry is often among the first sectors to be affected by budget cuts and other challenges in cities, and that it can be an “uphill battle” for resources and other needs.

But he was optimistic that L.A. will meet its goals, and noted that planting trees can help provide jobs in addition to benefits such as shade, oxygen and heat relief. Putting trees in the right location, selecting drought-tolerant trees and ensuring ongoing tree care will also make a difference.

“There’s always room for improvement,” he said. “I feel that we need to prioritize urban forestry through a different lens — one that is of larger importance — and then we can start looking at this as if it is going to save our lives one day.”

The Forest Service received 842 applications requesting a total of $6.4 billion in funding, the agency said — “an indication of the urgent nationwide need to plant and maintain more urban trees.”

©2023 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.