Iowa communities benefit from an externally funded tree-planting program

Abstract

In 1990, investor-owned utilities in Iowa began distributing funding dedicated to tree planting to communities through the nonprofit, volunteer-coordinating organization Trees Forever. To assess the impact of this tree-planting program, a questionnaire was mailed to 268 Trees Forever volunteers in communities throughout lowa in 1996. The objectives of this study were to measure increases in community forestry activities in towns that received tree-planting funds through the organization Trees Forever and to gather opinions about project administration through funding agencies external to the community. The response rate for the survey was 63%. Four-fifths of the communities responding to questions about community forestry activities showed an increase in some forestry-related activities (e.g., volunteer tree-planting group, tree board, fund-raising activities, tree inventory) after they received external tree-planting funds through Trees Forever; two-fifths of them added as many as four new activities. Also, four-fifths of the survey respondents agreed that their community tree-planting program would not have started without external funding, in this case from utility companies. Our results suggest that the benefits of tree-planting programs are enhanced by assistance provided to communities by a funding agency or a volunteer-coordinating organization.