City of San Antonio staff have announced the launch of the Neighborhood Challenge and Commercial Tree Planting programs with the goal of planting 825 new trees across the city during the upcoming fall tree planting season.

The San Antonio Parks & Recreation and Development Services Departments are collaborating on these programs to encourage neighborhoods and businessses to plant trees in their community.

"This is an excellent opportunity for citizens to beautify their neighborhoods and to contribute to the ecological health of their community," says Parks and Recreation Department Forester Michael Nentwich. "We also want to give neighborhoods an opportunity to work together and foster good relationships within those communities." Each applicant for each program will be eligible to receive up to 25 trees.

Two neighborhood projects and one commercial project will be selected in each of the 10 City Council Districts. This means that each district and the ETJ (Extra-Territorial Jurisdiction: 5 miles outside the city limits) is eligible to receive up to 75 trees.

Informational postcards will be sent out to all registered neighborhood associations within the City to advertise the program.

The program is funded through the Tree Mitigation Fund, which comes from non-compliant development, Nentwich says, so no tax dollars are being used.

Application packets also may be downloaded from the Development Services Department website at the following link: http://www.sanantonio.gov/dsd/environmental.asp (go to related documents: ‘Planting Challenge - Neighborhood’ or ‘Planting Challenge - Commercial’).

Applications may also be requested by phone by calling 207-3108.

Completed applications are due at the City Clerk's Office by Friday, June 27, at 4 p.m. Project selections will be announced in August. The mandatory training is scheduled for Sept. 13 and trees will be delivered for immediate planting on Oct. 25-26.

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