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Thursday, March 28, 2024
HomeNewsArchivesV.I. RC&D Receives Forest Service Stimulus Grant to Map Urban Trees

V.I. RC&D Receives Forest Service Stimulus Grant to Map Urban Trees

The Virgin Islands Resource Conservation & Development Council Inc. (V.I. RC&D) and its partner, the St. Croix Environmental Association (SEA), have announced the receipt of a $404,000 grant from the USDA Forest Service / International Institute of Tropical Forestry (IITF) funded through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act to implement the St. Croix Hurricane and Hazardous Fuel Mitigation Project.

The project is a management, planning, job training and outreach program. Its goals are to promote hurricane and fire risk reduction, community health, forest health improvement and job training. The project will assess forest health by mapping trees in the right-of-way (ROW) along the major roads of St. Croix and incorporate the data into a Geographic Information System (GIS) database. This mapping will provide an urban forest inventory, tree hazard assessment and mapping (tracking those trees most likely to lose limbs or fall during a storm as well as a map of where they are located) as well as a baseline map of vegetation for local utilities and public entities for roadside tree management.
The Hurricane and Hazardous Fuel Mitigation project will also develop a roadside tree management plan; conduct hurricane damage mitigation and hazardous fuel reduction assessment and planning along major roads on St. Croix; promote urban, roadside tree restoration by planting and caring for new trees; and conduct training workshops to provide / improve urban forestry job skills [GIS training and arboriculture training].
“The most significant part of the project is the GIS component, which will bring our tree management capabilities into the 21st century,” said V.I. RC&D Project Manager Carol Cramer-Burke. “Other municipalities have been using GIS and GPS [Global Positioning System] technologies to manage their tree resources for decades, and this grant will now bring that capacity to the USVI.”
The Virgin Islands Resource Conservation and Development (V.I. RC&D) Council, Inc. is an independent, locally-administered, non-profit organization whose mission is to enhance the quality of life for the people of the Virgin Islands through the conservation of natural and cultural resources, and the stimulation of growth and development. V.I. RC&D effectively develops partnerships with governmental, non-governmental and private organizations to provide residents with the necessary tools and resources to effectively implement resource conservation and community development projects.
For additional information about the St. Croix Hurricane and Hazardous Fuel Mitigation project, or about V.I. RC&D projects and programs, contact the V.I. RC&D office at 692-6932, ext. 5; vircd@usvircd.org; or visit the council’s Web site at www.usvircd.org.
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