FAQs about Urban and Community Forestry Grant work
What is the status of my application?
All November 22 applicants will receive an email on Wednesday, December 3 with the status of your application.
If you are randomly selected in the lottery, you will receive an additional application to complete to verify household income and participation in the program.
If you don’t get selected to apply for the program, you will be notified along with information about the total number of applicants received. You may reapply in future applications rounds.
We are not able to maintain a waiting list for the program. We anticipate reopening the application in December.
Concern about timing for tree removal
If you are concerned that your tree cannot wait to be removed, consider contacting a private tree removal service and removing the tree at your cost. After final determinations on applications are completed, scheduling of removals will be prioritized based on the condition of the tree(s). We will keep in touch with you via email throughout the process. Direct any questions to treehelp@hennepin.us(External link).
Who qualifies for tree removal assistance?
The program is income based. We are prioritizing applications from property owners who live at their property and whose household income is under $97,800 (for households from 1 to 4 people). See this chart for households of 5 or more people(External link).
How do I apply for assistance?
Currently, applications are accepted for a 12-hour period each month. The application takes less than 20 minutes to complete and asks for household and income information. Limit one entry per address.
After each application period closes, a random number generator will be used to select 50 applicants to complete the full application. Final approval will be subject to income and other program verifications.
We are taking this approach to increase accessibility and equity for this program while balancing the workload of staff and contractors. We will continue to adjust the process as needed.
The application process is online and available in English, Hmong, Somali, and Spanish. If you need interpretation assistance or other help with the application, call 612-541-1949 and state the help you need or language you need assistance in. Program staff will then return your call to provide the assistance you need.
If accessibility issues prevent applying to the program, please contact us treehelp@hennepin.us(External link), or call 612-541-1949 to leave us a message.
If a qualifying resident has a tree that needs removal before program implementation, can they be reimbursed retroactively for these costs?
Retroactive payments are not allowed per grant guidelines.
What about stump removal?
We will remove stumps along with trees that are approved for removal as part of this grant program. We will not remove stumps from trees that were removed outside of this program.
How can I stay informed about this program?
Notifications about the application opening are posted on this page and sent via email. We want to ensure all who are interested in applying for this program are notified when applications reopen.
If you did not receive an email notification on November 20 about applications opening on November 22, please provide your email via this form(External link) to be included in future notification emails.
Where can I ask questions about this program?
Ask any questions you have in the questions section of this page. You will also find previously answered questions there.
Who is funding this work?
Support for this work is provided by Inflation Reduction Act funding from the U.S. Forest Service.
I'm having trouble accessing the application
The application will read “Sorry, this has not started” prior to scheduled open windows. The application will read “The tree removal and replacement application is closed until the next application period” directly following application windows. If you are seeing either of these messages, the application is not currently open.