The Poulsbo City Council approved a $46,000 grant from the Department of Natural Resources at its Aug. 21 meeting; the funds will be used to assist in developing urban forest planning, programming tools, and activities that may not otherwise receive local funding.

The city will work with Western Washington University’s College of the Environment internship program, located in Poulsbo, and the Tree Board to assess, analyze, and recommend enhanced protections for urban trees, conservation guidelines of forest canopy, and solutions to increase canopy cover in an equitable manner throughout the city, documents read. The council also approved a contractor services agreement with WWU not to exceed $27,100.

The scope of the grant includes: 1) Conduct an Urban Tree Canopy Assessment; 2) Perform Geographic Information System Data analysis on percentage of tree canopy data; 3) Develop recommendations to assist with future updates to the Urban Forestry and Maintenance Plan that includes tree planting, forest restoration for public land, and proactive solutions for urban heat mitigation; and 4) Implement community workforce development in collaboration with WWU.

Holly Hill, senior director in Outreach and Continuing Education at WWU’s Poulsbo campus, said, “Not only will the tree canopy assessment have an impact on Poulsbo for years to come, but the student interns will also gain valuable skills needed for their future careers.”

Work will begin immediately and is expected to be completed by May 31, 2025. “We will have data to make informed decisions,” Parks and Recreation director Jeff Ozimek said. “This is a really good starting point. We need a snapshot in time. We need the data to know where do we need trees, how do they affect things and what species are going to be resistant.”