Nevada environmental groups get $18M boost in federal funding

Environmental nonprofits, tree experts and planting volunteers gathered Friday to celebrate $18 million in federal funding for urban forestry initiatives aimed at protecting neighborhoods hit hardest by climate change.

The USDA Forest Service will provide Nevada with $15.7 million in Inflation Reduction Act funding for urban forestry, meaning anything from tree planting to education and longterm planning and management.

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The urban heat island effect occurs in heavily developed areas with little to no greenery where temperatures rise above surrounding areas. Poorer areas and minority-majority neighborhoods tend to suffer the effects the most.

Nevada Plants Executive Director Lisa Ortega said the funding represents “the beginning of relief.”

“Nobody knows how many mature trees we may lose as we work to address a dwindling water supply and increased temperatures coupled with extreme weather events,” Ortega said. “I want to applaud this late and now imperative action.”

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