The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources is challenging Chester County's 16 urban centers to launch a new phase of TreeVitalize initiative to restore tree cover in the five- county southeastern region.

TreeVitalize Communities challenges municipal managers to treat urban trees as a part of the community's infrastructure.

Currently only 18 percent of Chester County residents live in one of the 16 urban centers. While other parts of the county are growing, the population of urban centers has been stagnant. TreeVitalize Communities focuses on tree planting as one effective strategy to improve the quality of life in these older, denser centers.

Three urban centers in Chester County have an active Shade Tree Commission, and two have a tree ordinance.

TreeVitalize Communities is a new technical assistance opportunity. The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, Penn State School of Forest Resources Cooperative Extension, and the Pennsylvania Environmental Council are partnering with TreeVitalize to offer this new program.

TreeVitalize Communities is open to managers in boroughs and 1st class townships in all five counties in the Philadelphia area. Meetings will be held in other counties this fall.

Participants will learn about existing management tools as well as recommended new approaches. The program will include demonstration grants to help jump-start the work and test out new ideas.

DCNR spearheads the TreeVitalize project with many public and private partners. The $8 million program also has a goal of planting more than 20,000 shade trees in neighborhoods in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties.

For more information, visit the TreeVitalize website.

9/22/2006