Egg Harbor, N.J., may be a small city, but it has big plans for its trees. Thanks to councilwoman and sustainability hero Nannette LoBiondo-Galloway, the community’s tree canopy is getting some much-needed TLC in the form of a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

          According to LoBiondo-Galloway, the city’s urban tree canopy is in jeopardy. Many of them are nearing the end of their lifespan. Others have been removed during street reconstruction projects, while major storm events have felled some.

          “This grant will provide the city with the funding needed to hire a certified tree expert to properly trim our street trees for health, safety and beauty, extending the lifespan of still-healthy trees that were planted in the rights-of-way of our avenues more than 80 years ago,” she said.

Deep roots

          Founded in 1857, Egg Harbor is an old German community known for its wide streets accented by landscaped borders that were replanted 100 years ago. Unfortunately, the replacements ranged from the London plane tree, which has roots capable of lifting sidewalks and curbs, as well as invasive species that cause harm to the environment and human health. Over the past eight years, LoBiondo-Galloway has been working with the city’s Green Team to apply for small grants that will help it correct course before it’s too late.

          In 2016, the city received a $30,000 grant from the New Jersey Urban & Community Forestry Program in order to plant 109 new trees on the public property strips. The trees replaced those that were lost during a freak derecho storm in July 2012. They received a second $30,000 grant to plant 67 new street trees in November 2022 and engage the community in the care and maintenance of those trees over a two-year period.

          The Green Team also received $5,000 from the Atlantic City Electric Sustainable Communities Grant program for their Lincoln Park Tree Identification Project. The project is designed to educate the public about the 17 different species of trees that reside in the heavily traveled park, some of which were planted over 100 years ago, others in 2017, and some that were planted by the Rudolph Elmer American Legion Post 158 to honor service members who died in wartime. Each tree has a sign that tells a little about the species so visitors can learn which ones are native and which are invasive. This helps visitors make informed decisions about what they choose to plant on their properties; they will know which trees might be best suited for them. The department also created a brochure to help guide people on tree care.

          “We really wanted to get the community involved in learning about proper tree care,” LoBiondo-Galloway said. “I’m really proud of how the community mindset has changed. They get why it’s important and what we are trying to do. Sometimes change takes a while, but I am glad to see the hard work pay off.”

A new opportunity

          When LoBiondo-Galloway learned about the $1 billion Inflation Reduction Act allowing the U.S. Community Forestry Service to distribute funding to plant and maintain urban trees across the country. The $1 million grant the city earned came through the Biden administration’s Justice 40 initiative that reserves 40% of the fund opportunities to go to communities that are overburdened and underserved.

          “We are an old community, but we are also a poor community. Our street trees have been neglected, and we can’t afford to hire someone to take care of the trees,” she said. “There are only a half-dozen people in the public works department, so I jumped on (the opportunity).”

          She asked for a lot of money and was granted a lot of money, the contract for which will be signed in the first quarter of 2024. In the meantime, there is still a lot of work to do to get ready for the windfall, but the city is very excited about what comes next.

          “We will save the ones that are still happy and take down the ones that are diseased or dead, and we will also do some planting,” she said. “It’s good to do things piecemeal like this and to replace trees on an ongoing basis.”

          Even though she has current projects to attend to, LoBiondo-Galloway is always thinking ahead to what she would like to do next. With 4,000 residents in the city of Egg Harbor and 1,500 households in the developed part of town, there is surrounding acreage that she would like to get dated by an expert.

          “I would like to work that into the grant if possible. They can bore a hole into a tree and count the rings to find out how old it is without cutting it down,” she said. “There are some cities that are approximately 300 years old, but when they date the trees, they find out that they go back 600-700 years. Egg Harbor is 170 years old, and the rest is woodlands, so it would be nice to know how old it really is.”

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