LANSING – National Arbor Day is more than five months away, but the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the DTE Energy Foundation are already promoting tree-planting with their annual grant program.

The initiative provides matching grants of up to $3,000 to local governments, schools and nonprofit organizations in DTE’s service area.

“Trees help the environment by cleaning the air we breathe and the water we drink by filtering airborne pollutants and reducing soil erosion,” said Kevin Sayers, state coordinator of DNR’s Urban and Community Forestry Program. “They also provide wildlife habitat and food sources for a variety of animals.

“We receive most of our applications from local units of government,” he said. “Consequently, we award most to them,” about 75 per cent.

DTE’s territory includes that of Detroit Edison, which covers the Thumb area south to near the Ohio border, and Michigan Consolidated Gas Co., which has service areas in most counties in the state.

Don Gratton, director of operations and maintenance for the Romeo Community Schools, said he applied for a grant and received $2,000 earlier this year.

Coupling that with additional cash, the district was able to plant about 20 trees of five or six varieties at the Romeo Engineering and Technology Center and the middle school.

Species include the crimson king maple, weeping cherry and sunburst locust, all of which are low-maintenance, high-shade trees, he said.

Gratton said staff and students are happy with the new trees.

The trees have improved aesthetics and replaced ashes which “have met their demise” through the emerald ash borer, he said.

Sayers said trees bring social benefits as well as ecological ones.

“They make communities more livable by providing aesthetic beauty, increasing property values and reducing energy use for heating and cooling.”

The trees are planted in places such as parks, right-of-ways, along city streets, nature study areas, school grounds and neighborhood revitalization areas. They must be planted on public land.

The program is also intended to build awareness about where trees should be planted.

Roberta Urbani, environmental planner in DTE’s Environmental Initiatives Department, said a goal of the program is to “educate people about planting the right trees in the right place.”

And Sayers said, “Trees that interfere with utility lines are a safety concern first and foremost. Secondly, trees cause up to 40 per cent or more of all power outages.”

The application process is competitive, and Urbani said the program generally draws 70 to 80 applications per year.

Components of a strong application include demonstrating a specific need, involving volunteers, understanding the benefits of trees and diversifying species in an area.

Also, funds are geographically distributed around the state, meaning the same area won’t win grants every year, she said.

Urbani said DTE has been involved in tree-planting programs since the U.S. Department of Energy announced its Global Climate Challenge Program in 1995 to address global warming.

“It’s one of our very early responses to global warming,” she said, noting that more than 20 million trees have been planted in the state as a result of the partnership.

Since 1998, $644,000 in 232 grants went to 139 communities. This year, $60,125 was awarded in 30 grants, including some in Oakland, Alpena, Huron, Roscommon, Newaygo and Delta counties.

Grant applications must be received by the DNR by Dec. 28, and winning projects must be completed by Dec. 31, 2008.

More information is available at www.mi.gov/dnrucf.