Project will help rebuild tree canopy after the emerald ash borer impacted the landscape.

Boulder County, Colo. - Boulder County Parks & Open Space has received a $1,500 grant from the Colorado Tree Coalition (CTC) for the CTC Grant 2021 Ash Replacement Planting Initiative Project.

This project is a multi-pronged approach to help rebuild Boulder County’s tree canopy after the emerald ash borer impacted the landscape. When this invasive insect was first discovered in Boulder County in 2013, the county took immediate action to mitigate the possible impacts of tree failures from dying ash trees by performing high-risk host tree removals.

To offset some of the canopy loss on county open space, Parks & Open Space staff and volunteers did several small planting projects that entailed planting larger balled-and-burlapped trees, small container trees, and small sapling trees at trailhead locations throughout the county:

• Lagerman Agricultural Preserve
• Left Hand Valley Grange and Niwot Loop
• Altona Schoolhouse at Heil Valley Ranch.

These locations were selected either based on their proximity to removed or existing (soon to be gone) ash trees or due to a pressing need for increased canopy cover in that area.

The Colorado Tree Coalition awarded $43,298 in grants to 15 organizations in 2020 thanks to funding from the CTC, the Xcel Energy Foundation, and the Xcel Energy Vegetation Management Program. Along with matching funds provided by grant recipients, this helped plant 780 trees in communities across Colorado. Since 1991 the Colorado Tree Coalition has awarded 528 grants totaling more than a million dollars. These grants have been matched with $8 million in community money and/or time and resulted in more than 75,000 trees being planted throughout the state.

The marketing team from Scaled Agile Inc. volunteered at the Lagerman Agricultural Preserve trailhead to plant Sargent cottonwood (pictured), birch, and alder trees along the shoreline to improve the tree canopy and provide bank stabilization.