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Date: 11/7/2023
SPRINGFIELD — The city of Springfield will focus on its forestry and provide upgrades to Neal Park, following the “significant” award of state funding.
Mayor Domenic Sarno, U.S. Rep. Richard Neal (D-Springfield), Parks Buildings and Recreational Management Director Patrick Sullivan, City Forester Alex Sherman, state Rep. Bud Williams (D-Springfield), Deputy Parks Director Peter Krupczak and other officials gathered at Blunt Park for the two grant announcements on Oct. 31.
According to Sarno, $6 million was awarded for forestry and $3.1 million is for Neal Park on Page Boulevard. The $6 million is from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service. For the park grant, $1.5 million is from the Land and Water Conservation Fund and the remaining $1.6 million is from the city’s Community Development Block Grant.
Springfield was one of 385 funded projects nationwide.
“The grant is part of $1 billion of competitive grants to plant and maintain trees, combat extreme heat and climate change and improve access to nature in cities, towns and suburbs where 84% of Americans live, work and recreate,” shared the Mayor’s Office. “The funding was made possible thanks to President [Joe] Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, the largest climate investment in our nation’s history.”
Sarno said his administration has invested over $111 million into the parks system, working closely with state officials, along with Neal on the federal level.
He shared that the $6 million federal grant is going to be “very helpful,” not only to continue to advance the city’s forestry division and planting new trees but also for forest fire prevention.
Sarno made note of a recent forest fire at Blunt Park and said that Sullivan, his team and Sherman will utilize the funding not just at that park, but across the city.
Regarding the $1.5 million for Neal Park, Sarno said Springfield was the only municipality in the state to receive this federal money. He added that he will “kick in” $1.6 million of CDBG funds to make it a $3.1 million project. This will include an all-accessible playground and fields.
Neal said that this grant will allow for 3,000 to 4,000 new trees to be planted again, which will be “helpful” when looking at climate change and global warming.
He added that it is important for children to experience the tree plantings, to see what you can do in exceeding generations and to understand that “we are only temporary custodians” of this legacy.
Sullivan said, “This is a great day as we celebrate 140 years of parks to have this big investment.”
He went on to say that having $111 million invested in the parks is “remarkable,” and thanked Sarno for never saying no.
Sullivan explained that the forestry grant was a “very competitive” grant round, with the maximum amount allowed to apply being $50 million. Springfield applied for $43 million to go city wide. “That was the dream with this one,” he shared; however, the city will stay working with Neal to get this money over time.
Due to the high amount of grant requests, Sullivan said securing the $6 million is “good.”
“New York City, we’re hearing, got $5 million so to be compared to a New York City and getting $1 million more than them, we did well,” he added.
Sullivan explained that the forest grant will be used to map streets.
“What I like about this is we’re going to get into our woodland areas of the city,” Sullivan said, although the main focus with this first $6 million is Blunt Park.
“We’ve been working with the forest service on the red oak trees. They are working on trees that are climate change or climate resistant trees and they’re studying us with other communities,” Sullivan said.
He added that it is “so important” to get this grant invested in the woodlands because there needs to be a lot of fire suppression and clean up.
Sullivan went on to say that the funding can be used for passive recreation. For instance, the Parks Department has been working with a resident whose dream is to get disc golf at Blunt Park.
At Neal Park, the ball field will be restored. Sullivan is also hoping for a playground and splash pad, along with implementing a wetland trail through the area where there was a pond.
Sullivan said this will cover Phase 1 of the project but will be going after other grants for Phase 2 of Neal Park.
Sherman said, “This grant represents one of the largest investments in Springfield’s urban forestry in a very long time.”
He went on to say that they are “very excited” to implement this grant as it covers many facets of the urban forest. For instance, they will be looking at urban tree canopy restoration and will be planting trees with some of this funding. On top of that, the city will be looking at developing some urban forest management plans. Sherman said there will be some concrete plans that are built with community input on how residents would like to see their urban forest managed.
Sherman shared that the city is “blessed” to have many forested parks and would like to encourage residents to come out and experience these woodlands by hiking on trails that are safe, have some interpretive signage which can help educate about the surrounding environment and about the “amazing” forest resources that exist in Springfield.
“You don’t have to go far to find some great woodlands … Just look behind us here in Blunt Park,” Sherman said.
Also with this funding, he explained that urban forest health and safety will be addressed, along with the previously mentioned point about forest fire mitigation.
“Blunt Park is going to be one of the pilot locations to do some of this mitigation because we have had recent incidents here this past year,” he shared.
Additionally, some funding will be used to address some mature street tree canopy, not just in the woodlands, but the street tree resources throughout the city which they would like to keep safe, healthy, productive and resilient.
Lastly, the grant funding will support green job workforce training for eligible residents to gain skills in tree planting and maintenance, along with trail construction and maintenance.
Sherman said the city is looking forward to implementing the grant and is hopeful to get as much resident input on the urban forest as they move through this process.