The Ecology Action Center in Normal is receiving nearly $500,000 in federal grant money to grow more trees and study climate change vulnerabilities in the Bloomington-Normal community.
U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen said the money from the Environmental Protection Agency will improve air and water quality, protect residents against summer heat, and lower household energy costs.
“Extreme weather has plagued our region, making it difficult for Illinoisans to live comfortably, especially during the summer months,” said Sorensen, whose district includes parts of Bloomington-Normal.
He said trees help prevent flooding by managing storm water.
“I am proud to see the Ecology Action Center in Normal receive this investment to develop ways to mitigate the impact of extreme weather by growing more trees in central Illinois so we can build a more sustainable region for future generations,” said Sorensen.
The EPA Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem Solving (EJCPS) Program seeks to increase tree equity in urban areas within Bloomington and Normal and reduce temperatures during extreme heat events.
Ecology Action Center Director Michael Brown said he’s excited to lead the partnership that includes Illinois State University, the McLean County Health Department, United Way of McLean County, the Bloomington-Normal NAACP, and Mid-Central Community Action.
“We will identify climate change-related vulnerabilities of environmental justice area residents in our community. Using this information, our team will create an EJ Climate Adaptation plan through a collaborative stakeholder process. Simultaneously, we will increase tree equity in environmental justice areas in Bloomington-Normal,” said Brown.
He said it’s different from the ongoing effort to plant 100,000 trees in McLean Countyover a decade, though the trees planted will count toward that larger goal.
“This new USEPA grant allows us to focus more strongly in what's called tree equity, which essentially means putting trees where the benefits of trees are most needed,” said Brown. “The west side of Bloomington is known to be an environmental justice area, the tree equity score for that area is much lower than most of the rest of the community. So, where we might in fact have higher levels of environmental pollution, air pollution, impacting public health. In fact, we don't have the ecosystem benefits of trees to help address that.”
A USEPA tool called EJ screen allows mapping of environmental justice areas. It combines a variety of environmental and socio-economic indexes to show the most pronounced environmental justice areas.
“We are looking at high quality saplings that already have several years of growth, 1–2-inch diameter saplings that are 5-7 feet tall. A lot of our other projects are more quantity focused. And so we plant you know, thousands of seedlings where we have open space to do so,” said Brown
He said it may cost a few dollars for a seedling, but $100 for a sapling intended to address tree equity.
“We don't have exact numbers in front of us right now. But the funding is sufficient for us to make a meaningful impact, especially given that it's a three-year project,” said Brown. “This will be slower going, finding good quality saplings, one at a time, you know, with local residents, local businesses, churches, community organizations, you know, that's going to be a slower way to reach a goal. And yet these are the trees that are going to bring more direct and specific benefits to public health”.
He said most Illinois native hardwood trees have good benefits in cooling effect, adding diverse plantings are desirable to avoid large-scale effects of diseases or pests like the Emerald Ash Borer.
“And if there may be changes in climate, isn't a low-lying area is it going to be wetter because of more intense and frequent, spring rains? Is a high spot going to be very dry? We need to take those things into consideration and make sure we're planting adaptable species for each site,” said Brown.
The other half of the project is to work on climate adaptation for environmental justice areas with more vulnerable populations and higher rates of poverty.
“Perhaps less resources for weatherization and those kinds of things, in addition to a higher rate of homeless population, or what's called the precariously housed, who are not homeless, but that could be given any severe weather event or other crisis,” said Brown.
He said partners will reach out and do an assessment of risks that climate change may amplify, and also will work on a strategic plan to address those vulnerabilities.
