A new federal grant will pay for a full-time urban forester to help the city maintain its stock of trees and work towards a goal of planting new trees across Kingston in the coming years. The $500,000 allocation through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service is part of a $1 billion program under President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.

The full-time position will be charged with analyzing current programs and policies, conducting public outreach and developing and implementing a plan to increase canopy coverage, reduce invasive species and address sustainability and climate change issues in the city’s urban forest. The forester will also work on a goal contained in the city’s open space plan to plant 1,000 new trees by 2030.

Mayor Steve Noble began his career in city government in the parks department and has been a strong proponent of maintaining and creating greenspaces in the city. In a statement announcing the grant, Noble linked the new position to efforts to combat climate change, for example, by using trees to help lower ground temperatures during more frequent episodes of extreme heat.

“It has long been a challenge to properly care for our many urban trees across the City of Kingston, and with climate change, we foresee maintaining healthy trees will both be more challenging, and more necessary,” said Noble. “We look forward to having someone on staff who will assist the city and residents with plans and procedures for ensuring our trees thrive.”

Kingston was one of 385 municipal, state and tribal governments, as well as community-based organizations and nonprofits, selected for funding under the Urban and Community Forestry Program.