SPRING LAKE — The Borough of Spring Lake Shade Tree Committee recently received a $20,000 grant that will aid the ability to collect townwide tree inventories, and look towards the future by composing a five-year Community Forestry Management Plan.
Syd Whalley, councilwoman and liaison to the committee said, “The Shade Tree Commission was awarded a $20,000 grant to the state DEP (New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection) department of forestry. We completed another grant, they reevaluated the grant process and this year, they’re giving out grants to help municipalities do (tree) inventories.”
This week, 18 new trees will be planted around the borough, led by the department of public works, all of which will eventually be inventoried.
Through the grant, there are a number of requirements for the process including hiring a licensed tree expert to conduct the inventories, eight individual characteristics of each tree and seeking out potential areas where new trees could be planted, Whaley explained.
“It doesn’t mean that we’re going to, because we always get the property owner’s agreement to plant a tree, but once we get this inventory done…looking at the number of the types of trees that we have, as well as the condition,” she said, “we’ll be able to plan the next part of the grant.”
The second portion the grant will assist with is the committee’s crafting of a five-year Community Forestry Management Plan.
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