Donald Trump anti-DEI push strips communities of $75 million to plant much-needed trees

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Independent

Sunday 02 March 2025 07:38 GMT


In New Orleans' Lower 9th Ward, Arthur Johnson has witnessed firsthand the vital role trees play, from filtering pollution to providing respite from the scorching summer sun. But two decades after Hurricane Katrina decimated 200,000 trees across the city, including many in Johnson's own neighborhood, efforts to restore the tree canopy face a significant setback.

The US Forest Service's recent decision to terminate a $75 million grant to the Arbor Day Foundation has dealt a blow to communities struggling to afford tree planting initiatives. The program, designed to bring green spaces to underserved neighborhoods, has become the latest casualty of the Trump administration's campaign against environmental justice.

The grant termination has had a direct impact on organizations like Sustaining Our Urban Landscape (SOUL), an environmental group working in New Orleans' historically Black communities. Having already planted over 1,600 trees, SOUL has now been forced to halt plans for an additional 900, leaving a void in the ongoing effort to restore the city's green spaces.

Those are trees that largely low-income residents otherwise couldn’t afford to plant or maintain, said the 71-year-old Johnson, who runs a local nonprofit, the Lower 9th Ward Center for Sustainable Engagement and Development, that has helped SOUL with its work and done some tree plantings of its own in the area. “You're not just cutting out the tree, the environment” with such cuts, said Johnson. If those trees aren’t replaced and more aren’t continually added, “it really takes a toll on the sustainability of the Lower 9th Ward and its community.”

Read more: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/trump-dei-cuts-trees-new-orleans-b2707425.html

[JBTaurus83]

1. This is sad

Organizations who plant trees in urban areas are wonderful. I currently live in Philadelphia and donate to the Philadelphia Horticulture Society. They planted a beautiful cherry blossom tree at my home free of charge. When I lived in Detroit I volunteered planting trees there with a similar organization. It really beautifies a city, and provides much needed shelter for the birds and such. Who would have thought that these assholes could even politicize something like that?

[BumRushDaShow]

3. Howdy neighbor!

Philly resident too. The Philly Flower Show starts today (although I'm not going to make it there this year but had been going with my sisters every year since we were little, right up until right when the pandemic started, and haven't been able to go since). One of my sisters is going to try again this year. During the pandemic, they had it outside down in South Philly at FDR park for a couple years but eventually brought it back inside again. I still keep a membership with PHS and they do great work around the city with tree planting, park reclamation, and helping with many neighborhood community vegetable garden plots.

I am guessing they may have planted a Kwanzan Cherry as that is what I see all around as a street (cherry) tree including a pile on a street near me. They produce big ball clusters of tiny flowers, which when done, results in the petals "falling like snow" (all over the street ). They stay relatively "dwarfish" for a street tree (not like the massive 100ft sycamores/London Planes that were planted decades and decades ago and that are now being removed because they are too big for a "street tree" and have upended the sidewalks).

[JBTaurus83]

4. I will miss the

Show this year as well, but, I usually make it a point to attend. I believe you are correct on type of cherry blossom tree. It was put in last year and really grew quickly, so I’m looking forward to the blooms. I live in south Philly so, I enjoyed when they were doing the show outside at the park. We thought they could probably do one outdoors in the summer and one indoors in the winter or spring. I doubt they would have any trouble selling tickets.

[BumRushDaShow]

7. PHS used to have the annual "Harvest Show"

In West Philly in Fairmount Park I *think* near Memorial Hall (which later became the home for the Please Touch Museum when the museum moved out of their Parkway location). Then they ended that, which was a big loss.

They also had the annual "Plant Dividend" in the fall for members to pick up their allocated "free plants", and held it down at the Navy Yard, which was great! Me and my sisters would bring our folding chairs and rolling carts and would walk around and buy more stuff and then sit under the trees along the parade grounds people watching (and staring over at the big ships docked down there).

Way long time ago when we went in the '60s - early '90s, the Flower Show was held at the Philly Civic Center in West Philly (now torn down and new buildings were built on the land there on Penn's campus). After the PA Convention Center opened in 1993, they moved the Flower Show there - in 1996 (I actually went to the opening of the Convention Center in 1993 and got to see then-VP Al Gore for the ribbon cutting).

PHILLY GLOWS FOR OPENING NEW CONVENTION HALL CALLED SYMBOL OF REVITALIZATION

(Originally Published: June 27, 1993 at 4:00 AM EDT)

[no_hypocrisy]

2. What does one have to do with the other?

[BumRushDaShow]

5. "What does one have to do with the other?"

The erasure and elimination of POC by any means necessary.

Rounding up and deporting some, destroying neighborhoods in minority communities that have been stripped of trees, becoming unbearable "heat sinks" in summer, where it is well-documented that the death toll from weather-related situations ranks "heat" as the #1 cause -



And where despite those neighborhoods sitting on toxic land as well, making it known unequivocally, that "environmental justice" is "too woke", etc.

[Littlered]

6. I'm not seeing a connection either.

I took a moment and did the math. It comes down to over 83k per tree.

[BumRushDaShow]

8. Tree plantings in "ghettos" is "too woke"

= "DEI".

[Littlered]

10. What does that even mean?

[BumRushDaShow]

11. Oh my...

You can read through these -

Natural Resources Defense Council

The Environmental Justice Movement

SUMMARY

Environmental justice is an important part of the struggle to improve and maintain a clean and healthful environment, especially for communities of color who have been forced to live, work, and play closest to sources of pollution.

Arbor Day Foundation

A Tree Can Be An Equalizer

One might assume everybody has access to trees, greenspace, and nature regardless of race, color, or creed. But dig a little closer and another story emerges. Pull up any satellite map of most urban areas of the United States and it will yield a patchwork of green hues prominent in some locations, hard to find in others.

Too often, it’s people of color living in these neighborhoods with less access to greenspaces and nature. This nature disparity can have further dire consequences beyond access to nature’s benefits. Climate change, for example, is creating worsening challenges for everyone, yet its impacts are felt disproportionately by those least equipped to face them.

Nature-poor neighborhoods and climate inequities are nothing new. The disparity goes back generations as historic discrimination in urban areas has negatively impacted the social, economic, and wellness outcomes of their residents. Community leaders and policymakers are putting more effort and resources towards correcting environmental injustices. Included in these discussions are how a tree can be a difference-maker, helping to alleviate the environmental injustices overlooked for far too long. Our unmatched network of partners is helping to meet this moment and work with neighborhoods in need using a simple solution from nature itself: Trees.

The power of trees in neighborhoods

Trees do so much for the people nearby. Living in proximity to trees improves physical health and mental well-being. Numerous studies show trees make people more physically active and even prevent respiratory ailments like asthma. They may also make people happier and less depressed. These natural landmarks give personality to neighborhoods, act as gathering spaces to strengthen connections among neighbors and reduce crime, littering, and vandalism. Trees improve the lives of the people they surround and help turn a collection of residences into a connected, more vibrant neighborhood. And too many areas, for far too long, have gone without the benefits of trees.

(snip)

The white supremacist and his apartheid-hugging henchman in the Oval Office, is eliminating all of this.

[Littlered]

12. I'm still not understanding

This article mumbo jumbo. You are speaking down to me (and seemingly making a lot of assumptions) like I have no experience in this area. I’m just trying to wrap my head around someone (anyone really) justifying 83k per tree.

[BumRushDaShow]

15. I think you are assuming that the $75 million was JUST that ONE community organization

NO.

It's for ALL of the Arbor Day's projects engaged in this type of activity.

That's why I linked to the Arbor Day site.

The OP article has this -

The US Forest Service's recent decision to terminate a $75 million grant to the Arbor Day Foundation has dealt a blow to communities struggling to afford tree planting initiatives.

"Communities" as in PLURAL.

The grant termination has had a direct impact on organizations like Sustaining Our Urban Landscape (SOUL), an environmental group working in New Orleans' historically Black communities.

Key words - LIKE (fill in the blank).

The group mentioned in the article is just ONE of many organizations that share in that money.

Why is that difficult to understand?

[Littlered]

16. Fair enough

Show me the breakdown. The article only mentions one group and one place. The rest is just 5 or 6 paragraphs of fluff that actually says nothing. I’m also left wondering why this isn’t part of the political subdivisions parks and rec departments. I mean it what they do. Spend a few moments and see what they are doing in Columbus Ohio.

[BumRushDaShow]

18. It's apparent you didn't bother reading the rest of the article

Here is another section from the article at the OP link -

The Arbor Day Fund's grant was part of former President Joe Biden's signature climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act, which sent $1.5 billion to the forest service’s Urban and Community Forestry program. In a Feb. 14 email canceling the grant, the Forest Service wrote that the award "no longer effectuates agency priorities regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and activities.”

But Dan Lambe, the Arbor Day Foundation's chief executive, said the projects weren't just going to serve disadvantaged people. They were going to benefit every member of the community, he said. In total, 105 nonprofits, municipalities and Indigenous organizations — from Alaska to Florida to Maine — have lost funding for critical environmental projects, the foundation said.

This was funding that was AUTHORIZED under Joe Biden's "Inflation Reduction Act" that was essentially a HUGE climate-related law that funds these types of projects. Cancelling it without Congressional intervention, is illegal.

I don't know HOW LONG these links are going to last before they are purged because they are working furiously to erase everything that Biden did, but here was the announcement of the main funding (for which the current was a part) for this whole initiative -

Biden-Harris Administration Announces Historic Funding to Expand Access to Trees and Green Spaces in Disadvantaged Urban Communities

More than $1 billion from President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda will increase urban tree cover, boost equitable access to nature, and tackle the climate crisis

Published:April 12, 2023


Newark, N.J., April 12, 2023 – Today the Biden-Harris Administration is announcing the availability of $1 billion in grants to increase equitable access to trees and green spaces in urban and community forests where more than 84% of Americans live, work and play. The announcement is part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda and the Administration’s work to build a clean energy economy, advance environmental justice and create economic opportunity in communities across the country.

The funding announced today is part of a $1.5 billion investment in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service Urban and Community Forestry Program from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. The grant funding is available to community-based organizations, tribes, municipal and state governments, nonprofit partners, universities, and other eligible entities as they work to increase tree cover in urban spaces and boost equitable access to nature while bolstering resilience to extreme heat, storm-induced flooding, and other climate impacts. This historic level of investment will enable the Forest Service to support projects to improve public health, increase access to nature, and deliver real economic and ecological benefits to cities, towns and tribal communities across the country.

“This program is yet another way that the Biden-Harris Administration is investing in America and ensuring that all people, regardless of ZIP code or neighborhood, have equitable access to the benefits that trees and green spaces provide,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “Whether it’s reducing heat stress or creating jobs in tree-planting and maintenance, this grant funding will support local communities and partners who are working on the ground to advance environmental justice by mitigating the impact of climate change on communities who lack tree cover in urban spaces while giving kids more safe spaces to play outdoors.”

Along with the open grant funding opportunity, the USDA Forest Service is providing up to $250 million to states and territories to further local efforts to support urban communities through equitable access to trees and the benefits they provide. The funding for state and territory forestry agencies will be administered as subgrants to reach disadvantaged communities, as determined by the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool. A detailed breakdown of funding awards by state and territory is available at https://www.fs.usda.gov/managing-land/urban-forests/ucf/fy23-state-allocations. (Ed. - this link was LOCKED by 45''s loons)

The Urban and Community Forestry Program is part of President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative, which aims to ensure that 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized, underserved and lack access to trees and nature. USDA is also a partner on the Interagency Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Promoting Equitable Access to Nature in Nature-Deprived Communities, which seeks to reduce the number of people without access to nature in their communities.

“Research shows that trees and green spaces improve physical and mental health outcomes and create new economic opportunities,” said USDA Undersecretary for Natural Resources and the Environment Dr. Homer Wilkes. “They also enhance community green spaces and support lasting community relationships and engagements. These funds will enable us to bring these benefits to disadvantaged communities across the nation, and to support new partnerships with a diverse array of organizations.”

To celebrate the opening of this application process, Under Secretary Wilkes joined White House Senior Advisor for Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation John Podesta and U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), for a tree planting ceremony and stakeholder roundtable at Lincoln Park in Newark, N.J. The visit is part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America tour, where senior Administration officials and members of the Cabinet are traveling across the country to highlight the impact of President Biden’s historic legislative achievements, including the Inflation Reduction Act.

“This historic investment in urban forestry, part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, isn’t just about increasing access to nature and tackling the climate crisis,” said John Podesta, Senior Advisor to the President for Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation. “It’s about cleaning up the air we breathe, keeping city streets cool during sweltering summers, and creating safer, healthier neighborhoods for our kids.”

“Since my days as Mayor of Newark, I have seen the transformative impact that planting trees can have for urban communities,” said Sen. Booker. “Studies have shown that trees save families money in heating and cooling costs, reduce air and water pollution, decrease the risk of respiratory illnesses like asthma, reduce flooding, and protect people from extreme heat. The Inflation Reduction Act’s $1.5 billion allocation to the Urban and Community Forestry Program will help us plant more trees across our communities, with a focus on overlooked and disadvantaged areas. This historic investment will help us tackle the most pernicious effects of climate change, move us closer to remedying environmental injustices in our communities, and pay dividends for generations to come.”

The Inflation Reduction Act makes the nation’s largest-ever investment in combatting the climate crisis. Through this grant funding opportunity, the agency will invest in proposals that extend beyond planting new trees, such as proposals for maintaining and managing urban forests, increasing community engagement in local urban forest planning, and improving community and urban forest resilience to climate change, extreme heat, forest pests and diseases, and extreme weather events.

“Investing in our urban forests is investing in the health and wellness of our communities,” said Forest Service Chief Randy Moore. “Trees provide numerous benefits, like improving air quality, reducing stormwater runoff, providing shade, creating safe outdoor spaces for recreation, and stimulating other kinds of investments. Equitable access to these benefits is key, as everyone deserves the opportunity to live in a healthy and sustainable environment.”

The Forest Service is holding a series of webinars to assist potential applicants in applying for grant funding. An initial webinar was held on March 29, 2023, with additional webinars scheduled later in April. These information-sharing webinars will be advertised and posted on the Forest Service website. The final funding amount will depend on the total funding requested from proposals and their potential impact on disadvantaged communities. The open application period extends from April 12, 2023 to June 1, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. EDT.

For information on how to apply for federal Urban and Community Forestry grants, visit the Forest Service website
, or www.grants.gov using the opportunity number USDA-FS-2023-UCF-IRA-01. For more information on funding to states and territories, visit the state allocations webpage. To learn how to apply for state or territory-administered subgrants, contact local state forestry agencies.

USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. In the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.

#

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.

The "breakdown" link noted in the above - https://www.fs.usda.gov/managing-land/urban-forests/ucf/fy23-state-allocations

has been PURGED.

[Littlered]

21. I'm at a loss here.

Urban Forrests? Are you kidding me?

Since I have an inkling you have no experience living in the ghetto. Allow me to educate you. Do you know what people really want? They want to be noticed. They want someone to stop by and let them know that they matter. Someone that acknowledges the effects they suffer from the poisons they have been exposed to.

As a person that has experienced this firsthand. I personally find the idea of a drive by arborist offensive. I’m failing to see, how someone passing by and planting a tree (or 100) comforts someone dealing with a lifetime supply of cancer. Especially when their only sin was being born into the culture of chemical alley.

And exactly what does that have to do with dei, which is the entire point of this exchange.

[BumRushDaShow]

22. Allow me to educate YOU

I am a POC who was born and raised in the city of Philadelphia who grew up and went to school with kids who lived in what was dubbed "the ghetto", later renamed the "inner city". I also substitute taught in those neighborhoods being described before working for the federal government. My mother and aunt were Social Workers for both the city and state ASSIGNED to those areas.

Every organization has a FOCUS and there are plenty (notably local orgs) that work to cover all sorts of areas of need, whether job training, recidivism, drug addiction, food insecurity, housing and housing rehab, gun violence, mental illness, chronic health issues, age-related issues, and on and on.

A big focus here in Philly that was a major push from our black female mayor, was to bring about revitalization of many of the neighborhoods that had become blighted and were dumping grounds for trash and even waste materials from construction sites that found an empty lot and filled it with their debris "for free". Cameras placed at some of those lots discovered contractors from as far as NJ who came across the river to dump here in the city rather than pay for disposal.

Mayor Parker and City Departments Launch One Philly, A United City Citywide Cleaning Program

Mayor Cherelle L. Parker announces the One Philly, United Citywide Cleaning and Greening Program will launch on Monday, June 3. The Office of Clean and Green Initiatives in collaboration with various city departments along with quasi-governmental agencies and nonprofits, will employ a proactive and holistic strategy to address the many chronic quality of life issues related to litter, illegal dumping, graffiti, abandoned automobiles, vacant lots, and nuisance properties. The goal of the program is to clean every neighborhood in the City of Philadelphia over a 13-week period throughout the summer starting Monday, June 3 through August 26, 2024.

During her first phase - EVERY street in the city was CLEANED (and this is a city of over 1.5 million people), with dump sites cleared, abandoned cars removed, graffiti scrubbed, etc. The next phase was to be to make this a sustained effort and introduce more "greening" of parts of the city that lacked it.

These were and will always be "quality of life" issues.

There was an expectation for the "greening" effort of her plan to add trees (and we have the PA Horticultural Society here who has assisted in doing this for many years), which has obviously now been torpedoed -

With the help of a big federal grant, the City, nonprofits and volunteers are working to reverse the loss of urban tree canopy in Philadelphia


by SJ Punderson
February 1, 2025

Nearly two years after the launch of the Philly Tree Plan, the City’s ambitious effort to reverse decades of urban canopy loss is still in its infancy. A $12 million U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) grant represents a significant step forward, but community advocates and public health leaders worry that progress isn’t moving quickly enough. With the Philly Tree Coalition beginning to take shape, stakeholders like the Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC) and the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) are stepping in to advance the plan’s goals. But as funding gaps persist and public health stakes rise, is the City’s green vision truly taking root?

An Ambitious Start

An ambitious investment in Philadelphians’ well-being, the Philly Tree Plan was released in 2023 by Philadelphia Parks & Recreation (PPR). The plan aims to expand the city’s tree canopy to 30% in every neighborhood within 30 years. The plan promises transformative outcomes: improved public health, equitable access to green spaces and a safer, cleaner city. So, two years in, is the Philly Tree Plan delivering?

“The Philly Tree Plan is an incredible initiative, but aligning stakeholders and funding streams takes time,” says Kristine Gonnella of PHMC. And there’s skepticism among Philly residents like Jacelyn Blank, cofounder of Philly Tree People, who is cautious about placing too much faith in bureaucracy. “The City has a history of removing trees for development projects like Cobbs Creek and the FDR Meadows,” says Blank. “We’re fighting against a tide of urban forest loss.”

Still, there are wins to celebrate. The $12 million dollar USDA grant has fueled not only tree planting and maintenance but also workforce development efforts. In 2024 alone, more than 300 trees were planted through the Taking Care of Business program, which focuses on commercial corridors. Eight of the proposed 24 newly-budgeted positions have been filled, and pruning and removal budgets doubled in fiscal year 2023. “We’re making progress, but trust-building is crucial,” says the City’s first city forester, Erica Smith Fichman, who leads the Urban Forestry Unit at PPR and spearheaded the Philly Tree Plan effort.

(snip)

You apparently have no science background nor awareness of the concept of urban "heat sinks" (I am a former chemist and a 55-year weather hobbyist) and how that has negatively impacted urban areas everywhere.

The largest number of deaths from weather-related events HAVE BEEN from heat.



Adding trees to the many square miles of urban neighborhoods that are full of asphalt, cement, concrete, brick, stone, and metal, will reduce the absorption of heat by those materials thanks to a tree canopy providing shade.

Fixating on one thing while refusing to recognize that urban areas require a HOLISTIC, multi-prong effort, is typically shallow.

Maybe you need sit back and learn something.

[Solly Mack]

9. ...

[BrianTheEVGuy]

13. "Anti-DEI" has an objective...

…and it’s the total destruction of anybody who isn’t a straight white conservative Christian dude.

[malthaussen]

14. 75 mil, or about the cost of one of DJT's golf weekends...

... that they would even bother cutting such a paltry amount is all one needs to know to know it's not about the money.

-- Mal

[jls4561]

17. I can't make up for all the Mump evil deeds, but I just donated to help with tree planting.

https://soulnola.org/about/

[dreamland]

19. And we know what happens when you have no trees

Look at China, they striped away swaths of trees from the land in order to build, then their air quality suffered and their people got sick. They were buying air in a can for fresh air. Everything this administration touches dies.

[BumRushDaShow]

20. "They were buying air in a can for fresh air."