New York Opens $20 Million for Community Reforestation Grants
Municipalities and nonprofits can seek up to $3 million to restore forests, expand tree cover and make communities more resilient.
New York is making $20 million in community reforestation grants available to municipalities, nonprofits and other eligible organizations for projects designed to create or restore forested natural areas serving urban communities. The funding could give communities across the state an opportunity to turn vacant or underused areas into long-term environmental assets while addressing heat, flooding and air quality concerns.
Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the second round of the Community Reforestation, or CoRe, Grant Program on Aug. 6. Applications are due by 2 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026.
What Are New York’s Community Reforestation Grants?
The Community Reforestation Grant Program provides state money for large-scale tree planting and forest restoration projects that benefit people living in and around New York’s urban communities.
The grants are funded through the $4.2 billion Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act, which New York voters approved in 2022.
According to DEC, more than 85% of New York’s population lives in or near an urban community, making urban and community forests an important part of the state’s environmental strategy.
Hochul said trees can help communities deal with several environmental threats.
“Trees are one of our most effective tools for mitigating climate-related risks such as extreme heat, flooding, air pollution and droughts,” Hochul said in announcing the program.
The governor said expanded forest areas can also help clean air and water, reduce erosion and moderate temperatures.
Who Can Apply?
The program is broader than a traditional municipal tree-planting grant.
Eligible applicants include:
- Municipalities
- Not-for-profit organizations
- Soil and water conservation districts
- Indigenous Nations
- State agencies
Applicants may request between $300,000 and $3 million, and the state says no matching contribution is required.
That lack of a required local match could be particularly important for municipalities and nonprofits that have worthwhile environmental projects but limited resources to provide matching funds.
Of the $20 million available, the state is reserving up to $4 million for smaller projects requesting no more than $499,999. The remaining $16 million will be available for larger projects.
What Projects Can Receive Funding?
This is not simply a program for planting individual trees along streets.
The state is looking for projects that establish or restore forested natural areas.
Eligible work can include:
- Planting trees
- Preparing sites before planting
- Removing competing vegetation
- Removing invasive plants that could prevent seedlings from growing
- Installing protections to prevent deer from damaging young trees
The grants cannot be used to purchase real estate. They also cannot be used for planting and maintaining individual street trees or individual trees in landscaped parks.
That distinction is important. The goal is to create or restore functioning forest areas rather than finance routine municipal landscaping.
Why Tree Cover Matters to Communities
Urban trees can sometimes be discussed as an appearance issue. The science and the state’s grant criteria treat them as infrastructure.
DEC Commissioner Amanda Lefton described healthy urban forests as “essential green infrastructure.”
Trees and wooded areas can provide several benefits at the same time. They can:
- Shade neighborhoods during hot weather.
- Absorb and slow stormwater.
- Help reduce erosion.
- Store carbon.
- Provide wildlife habitat.
- Support biodiversity.
- Improve access to natural areas.
DEC says community forests also help filter stormwater and improve air quality.
Those benefits become more important as communities deal with extreme heat and heavier rain events.
Trees will not eliminate flooding, air pollution or climate risks by themselves. Stormwater systems, building improvements, emergency planning and other infrastructure investments remain necessary.
But forests can become one part of a broader resilience strategy — and unlike many pieces of infrastructure, trees can provide additional benefits as they mature.
Underserved Communities Get Additional Consideration
Environmental equity is built into the way applications will be scored.
Projects serving communities identified by New York as Disadvantaged Communities or areas with low Tree Equity Scores will receive additional points during the state’s review process.
That provision recognizes a long-standing challenge in urban planning: tree cover is not distributed equally.
Neighborhoods with fewer trees can experience hotter summer temperatures and fewer of the environmental benefits associated with mature tree canopy.
The grant program therefore gives local governments and community organizations an incentive to examine where tree coverage is lowest rather than simply adding trees where existing green space is already abundant.
Program Supports New York’s 25 Million Trees Goal
The community reforestation grants will also contribute to Hochul’s 25 Million Trees Initiative, launched in 2024.
The initiative seeks to plant 25 million trees statewide by 2033 as part of New York’s broader climate and environmental efforts.
The state says it has committed $61 million since 2022 to urban and community forestry grants, including the CoRe awards.
New York has also received significant federal urban forestry support. According to the Governor’s Office, an additional $73.5 million was awarded directly to local governments and nongovernmental organizations through the federal Inflation Reduction Act under the Biden administration.
Another $10 Million Forestry Opportunity Is Still Open
The CoRe program is not the only forestry funding currently available.
DEC says another $10 million remains available through Round 17 of its Urban and Community Forestry Grant Program for tree inventories, assessments and management plans.
Of that amount, $3 million is reserved for communities with populations of 65,000 or fewer.
Those applications face a much earlier deadline: 2 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026.
For local officials, that creates two different opportunities.
The inventory program can help communities determine what trees and forest resources they already have and develop plans for managing them. The larger CoRe program can finance substantial planting and forest restoration projects.
What Mohawk Valley Communities Should Consider
The announcement deserves attention from municipalities and environmental organizations across the Mohawk Valley.
Because municipalities and nonprofit organizations are among the eligible applicants, local leaders can examine whether there are suitable sites where forest restoration could address several community needs at once.
Potential applicants should consider questions such as:
- Which neighborhoods have the least tree canopy?
- Are there public areas suffering from erosion or excessive stormwater runoff?
- Are invasive plants preventing native trees from returning?
- Could additional forest cover help reduce summer heat?
- Are there areas where residents have limited access to trees and natural spaces?
- Could multiple municipalities or community organizations coordinate environmental planning?
Not every tree project will qualify. DEC’s rules specifically focus the CoRe program on establishing and restoring forested natural areas rather than ordinary street-tree maintenance.
That makes reviewing the official eligibility requirements before developing an application especially important.
How to Apply
DEC will hold an informational webinar on Thursday, Aug. 20, from 1 to 3 p.m. to explain the funding opportunity and answer questions. Registration is required.
Applications must be submitted through New York’s Statewide Financial System, commonly called SFS.
Organizations planning to apply should establish their SFS accounts well before the deadline rather than waiting until the final days.
The final deadline is:
Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026, at 2 p.m.
Applicants can search the Statewide Financial System for “Community Reforestation” or “CoRe.”
A Chance to Treat Trees as Infrastructure
The significance of the community reforestation grants goes beyond the number of trees eventually planted.
The program encourages communities to think of forests the same way they think about roads, drainage systems and other public infrastructure: as assets requiring planning and long-term investment.
There is also a practical opportunity here for Central New York.
With awards reaching as high as $3 million and no local match required, municipal governments and qualified community organizations have a funding source worth examining.
The challenge will be turning that opportunity into strong local proposals before November.
Residents who believe their neighborhoods could benefit from additional forest cover should contact local government officials and environmental organizations and ask whether appropriate projects are being considered.
A tree planted today may take years to mature. That is precisely why communities hoping for cooler, greener and more resilient neighborhoods tomorrow need to begin planning now.
