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IN THE NEWS
Trees of Life
Grant funds effort to restore urban forest
Baton Rouge, LA (March 30, 2008)- Around 70 volunteers brightened up the landscape at a new, mixed-income housing development in Old South Baton Rouge on Saturday morning, planting 80 trees as a light rain fell. The 14 affordable single-family homes of the RiverSouth HOPE VI development - Helping Out People Everywhere- will be shaded by the trees planted in their front and back yards. Baton Rouge Green, a community organization that has planted more than 28,000 trees in its 20-year history, received a $20,000 grant for its NeighborWoods program, dedicated to renewing the urban forest.

SUCCESS STORY
Legislative Advocacy Program
California ReLeaf monitors state and federal legislation in order to inform the urban forestry community of opportunities to influence public policy on behalf of urban trees. In 2006 California ReLeaf hired a professional lobbyist to assist with its state-level efforts. As a result of its work, $20 million was designated for urban forestry programs under California Proposition 84 passed in 2006.

RESEARCH
Urban Forestry Programs for Public Works
Washington, DC (February 1, 2008)- The American Public Works Association received a grant from the U.S. Forest Service to develop a series of best management practices on effective urban forestry management. Teaming up with the Society of Municipal Arborists and Davey Resource Group, American Public Works Association developed this project to strengthen communications between urban foresters and public works professionals by creating a series of reports and conducting an education campaign on urban forestry management.

PUBLIC POLICY
FLAME Act Proposed to Address Escalating Fire Suppression Costs
Washington, DC (April 1, 2007)- Interior Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Norm Dicks is co-sponsoring a bill that would address the need for better budgeting for fire suppression costs by the federal government. ACT supports this and a related bill because they would address the central financial dilemma that puts all other programs at risk in the Forest Service. Until fire suppression budgeting is fixed, stewardship programs like Urban and Community Forestry will be under severe budget pressure.

EVENTS
2008 ACT Annual Meeting Teams Up with Partners in Community Forestry- CALL FOR PROPOSALS
You are invited to submit a proposal to present at the Partners in Community Forestry National Conference, November 18-20, 2008, in Atlanta, Georgia. Programs in a variety of formats and time lengths are solicited, ranging from 30 to 60 minutes. We are especially interested in presentations that include an audiovisual element, audience participation, and other unique approaches.

FUNDING
Neighborhood Improvement Funded Deadline: June 27, 2008
The Neighborhood Excellence Initiative, Bank of America's signature philanthropic program, recognizes, nurtures, and rewards nonprofit organizations and individuals working to improve their communities. The focus is on areas such as education, community development, arts and culture, and health and human services.