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

The city will work with Western Washington University’s College of the Environment internship program in Poulsbo and the Tree Board to evaluate, analyze and recommend improved protections for city trees, tree canopy conservation policies and solutions to increase tree canopy cover evenly throughout the city, the documents said. The council also approved a services contract with WWU, not to exceed $27,100.

The scope of the grant includes: 1) conducting an urban tree canopy assessment; 2) conducting a geographic information system data analysis using tree canopy percentage data; 3) developing recommendations to support future updates to the urban forestry and maintenance plan, which includes tree planting, reforestation of public lands, and proactive urban heat mitigation solutions; and 4) implementing community workforce development in collaboration with EMU.

Holly Hill, senior director of outreach and continuing education at WWU’s Poulsbo campus, said, “Not only will the tree canopy assessment impact Poulsbo for years to come, but the interns will also gain valuable skills they will need for their future careers.”

Work will begin immediately and is scheduled to be completed by May 31, 2025. “We’ll have data to make informed decisions,” said Jeff Ozimek, director of Parks and Recreation. “This is a really good starting point. We need a snapshot in time. We need the data to know where we need trees, what the impact will be and what species will be resilient.”