The City of Cocoa has completed a tree inventory which located 8,340 trees located within the City rights-of-way and City owned parks and cemeteries. This inventory was part of the Urban and Community Forestry multi-year grant which was awarded to the City on March 17, 2020 from the USDA Forest Service through the Florida Forest Service to assist local governments in enhancing their urban and community forestry programs.
This three-year grant program first allows the City of Cocoa to develop a local tree and hazardous tree inventory, second allows the City of Cocoa to create an urban forest master plan and tree ordinance, and then third begin implementation of that master plan. The grant matches awarded were $25,000 for the first year, $15,000 for the second year, and $15,000 for the third year.
The first part of this three-year program is now complete with city-wide tree inventory. The information collected during this inventory included locations, species, name, height, any damage that may be existing on the tree, conflicts with utilities, etc. that will all help with the second year of this program which is developing a comprehensive tree management plan as well as implementing new tree care ordinances to ensure the health of the City’s tree population in the future.
“The City of Cocoa Public Works Department is excited to participate in this Urban and Community Forestry grant program through the Florida Forest Service. This program gives us the opportunity to learn more about the trees we currently have in the city and allows us to better plan for the future of our tree canopy in the city. Trees play an important role in our City’s resiliency and storm preparedness and participating in this program is an additional way we are becoming more storm prepared for the future,” said Public Works Director Bryant Smith.
For more information on this grant program, visit https://www.fdacs.gov/Business-Services/Grant-Opportunities/Florida-Urban-and-Community-Forestry-Grants.
