Hudson Valley ReLeaf News
Rooting for Hudson Valley Trees Since 1992
In this issue:
Irvington Woods, Photo Credit: @johnabbottphoto
Let's get together to tour the CoRe project site at Irvington Woods
Join Hudson Valley ReLeaf and Irvington Woods' managers, Zoë Hamilton-vom Baur and CJ Reilly, for a guided tour of Irvington Woods in the Village of Irvington, where NYSDEC’s Community Reforestation (CoRe) grant is supporting forest restoration work. Explore how this $382,000 grant is helping to implement the work prescribed in the Irvington Woods Community Forestry Management Plan by removing and treating invasive plant species, protecting plants from deer browse, and planting about 6,000 stems of native woody species to improve long-term forest health and resilience.
Irvington Woods Community Reforestation Project Tour
When: Wednesday, October 22, 10AM-12 PM
Where: O'Hara Nature Center - 170 Mountain Rd, Irvington, Westchester County
Meet-up: In front of the O'Hara Nature Center
Dress: Wear comfortable walking shoes.
Thank you to Jen Lerner, Putnam County Cornell Cooperative Extension Educator and Brent Knepper, City of Kingston Urban Forester for hosting a CoRe tour each. Both tours had great company and discussion about urban woodland restoration and beyond. An article about all three CoRe Tours will be submitted to the New York State Urban Forestry Council's Taking Root newsletter after our tour of Irvington Woods.
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Our recent Hudson Valley ReLeaf meeting on October 10th at the Town of Fishkill's Highway Garage went well. Thanks again to the Town of Fishkill's Highway Superintendent, Carmine Istvan for hosting us. The well-rounded group of 20 attendees represented the public, private, and non-profit sectors of urban and community forestry. Some attendees represented more than one sector!
The meeting began with a presentation by Christina McLaughlin, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation's (NYSDEC) Urban and Community Forestry Partnership Coordinator, that explained how the NYSDEC Urban and Community Forestry Program works. The three main partners in the program include the NYSDEC, the US Forest Service, and the NYS Urban Forestry Council. Those three partners make it possible to organize and implement the ideas and programs that are born out of need as expressed by our partners throughout the state, especially through the New York ReLeaf program.
One of the main items on the agenda for this meeting was to collect ideas to start sketching out HV ReLeaf's next workshop. After talking about current and upcoming grants, programs and events that attendees are working on, the theme of trees and infrastructure kept coming up and was selected as the theme for the next Hudson Valley ReLeaf workshop. This workshop could address mitigating or avoiding sidewalk/tree root conflicts or methods to increase soil volume for rooting space, a major limiting factor in street tree vitality.
Please consider providing input to shape how the next Hudson Valley ReLeaf Workshop about growing trees in the built environment by answering the questions in the linked form by clicking the button below:
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Each year photographers and artists of all ages are invited to submit original artwork to be considered for the State Arbor Day Poster. DEC prints thousands of posters for distribution to schools, the New York State Fair, and Arbor Day celebration events in Tree City USA communities, and other venues. It is a long-time tradition for many New Yorkers! Visit DEC's Arbor Day webpage for contest details.
The 2025 Tree Care Activities in the US study is collecting survey responses to understand how communities care for their trees. This study is updating information collected in 2014 as part of an ongoing long term effort to understand tree care in the US. But they need your help to share the story of trees in your community.
You can be an integral part of a 50-year data collection effort comparing tree activities across the country.
Key Takeaways:
- Your response is confidential and will only be released as summarized information.
- The researchers will share the summarized results with you in a final report.
- To review key findings from the 2014 study, you can Google "Hauer Muni" or visit the University of Wisconsin website.
The researchers leading this study are:
- Richard Hauer - Professor Emeritus of Urban Forestry, University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point, and
- Andrew Koeser - Associate Professor of Landscape Management, University of Florida
Please complete the questionnaire by October 31, 2025.
Applications the Tree City USA, Tree Campus Higher Education, and Tree Line recognition programs are due December 2, 2025. The portal for submitting applications with the Arbor Day Foundation is open now.
Join the 190 Communities in New York that were recognized as Tree Cities for their efforts in 2024 and renew your recognition status today!
Some current grant opportunities:
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New York State Arborists (NYSA) Education Award
NYSA supports students enrolled in arboriculture, urban forestry or other tree-related fields and who intend to pursue a career in this field providing up to two $1,000 awards to suitable candidates. These awards are designed to assist students with their education-related expenses. Applications due Friday, October 31, 2025.
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The Hudson River Valley Greenway Grant Program provides matching grants to Greenway Communities and Compact Communities. Greenway Communities are eligible to receive funding to develop plans or projects consistent with the five Greenway criteria: natural and cultural resource protection, economic development, public access, regional planning, and heritage and environmental education. Applications due Friday, October 31, 2025.
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NYSDEC Invasive Species Grant Program Approximately $4 million is now available through the fourth round of the Invasive Species Grant Program. This grant program, supported by New York’s Environmental Protection Fund, is designed to advance projects that target aquatic and terrestrial invasive species across the state. Municipalities, academic institutions, and not-for-profits may submit up to two bids for eligible projects in four categories. Applications due Wednesday, December 17, 2025.
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Green Jobs for Youth Grant
$4 million in Environmental Justice Green Jobs for Youth Grants are now available to help youth in environmental justice communities develop skills training and promote job placement in various green industries. Applications due Wednesday, January 28, 2026.
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Quassaick Creek Watershed Alliance's Quassaick Creek Fest gave the Newburgh and New Windsor communities an opportunity to discover nature and the Quassaick Creek and its connection with Crystal Lake and the proposed Quassaick Creek Greenway!
Congratulations to our Newest Hudson Valley Climate Smart Communities! Congratulations to our three new Hudson Valley Region communities: Town of Mamaroneck in Westchester County, Village of Rhinebeck in Dutchess County, and the Village of Millbrook in Dutchess County, who join 70 other Hudson Valley communities as certified New York State Climate Smart Communities (CSC) for helping to save energy, reduce flood risk, address extreme heat, and develop other plans to demonstrate climate leadership.
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Do you have content related to this newsletter topic? Consider submitting potential content to amy.mackenzie@dec.ny.gov.
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Hudson Valley ReLeaf Email Newsletter - circulated September 3, 2025
Hudson Valley ReLeaf Email Newsletter - circulated July 7, 2025
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