TreeVitalize Metros Program will be available to communities within fourteen metropolitan areas of the state by the end of 2009, particularly areas with high population densities and low tree canopy cover. See the map below for a map of the metropolitan areas of the state

Note: unfortunately, the 6 counties surrounding Allegheny County are currently not eligible for TreeVitalize funding. Stay tuned for future updates. In the meantime, please visit PA Community Trees for other community grant opportunities.

“TreeVitalize Metros” is a bit different from the TreeVitalize program setup in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The Philadelphia and Pittsburgh regional programs provide trees directly to qualified groups. In the other twelve metro areas, (1) applicants must apply for grants to purchase trees, (2) only municipalities may apply, and (3) applications are accepted not by DCNR itself, but by designated “Metro Partnerss” working in cooperation with DCNR.

For information on the TreeVitalize program in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh regions:

Philadelphia Region
TreeVitalize Philadelphia has been restoring tree cover in the Philadelphia Metropolitan Area since 2004. For information about the program in Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, Bucks and Philadelphia Counties contact:

TreeVitalize Program Manager Michael Leff
PA Horticultural Society
100 North 20th Street 5th Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Phone (215) 988-8795
mleff@Pennhort.org

Get involved with TreeVitalize Philadelphia

Pittsburgh Region
TreeVitalize Pittsburgh has been restoring tree cover in the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Area since Spring 2008. For information about the program contact:

TreeVitalize Project Director Jeff Bergman
Western PA Conservancy
800 Waterfront Drive
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
Phone (412) 586-2396
jbergman@paconserve.org

Get involved with TreeVitalize Pittsburgh

TreeVitalize Metros (12 other metropolitan areas)
Funding is available through TreeVitalize Metros for planting trees on streets within the public right-of-way and in parks and other public property. Technical assistance is available through DCNR Service Foresters and Penn State Cooperative Extension Foresters, and applicants are required to work through one of the foresters in developing a planting project. Contact information is provided in the grant application.

Submit your completed application to your local metro partners page.

• Erie, Lancaster, Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton Regions
  Fall 2008 will marked the official launch of the program in the Erie, Lancaster, and Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton (“Lehigh Valley”) Metropolitan Areas. Communities with low tree canopy cover in the following counties are eligible: Erie, Lancaster, Lehigh, Northampton, and Carbon Counties.
  
• Johnstown, Altoona, Harrisburg-Carlisle, and Scranton-Wilkes Barre Regions
  In spring 2009 TreeVitalize will be available in the Johnstown, Altoona, Harrisburg-Carlisle, and Scranton-Wilkes Barre Metropolitan Areas. Communities with low tree canopy cover in the following counties are eligible: Cambria, Blair; Perry, Cumberland, Dauphin, Wyoming, Luzerne, and Lackwanna Counties.


• State College, Williamsport, York, Lebanon, Reading Regions
  In fall 2009 Lebanon Metro Area was funded. In spring 2010 TreeVitalize will be available in the State College, Williamsport, York, Lebanon, and Reading Metropolitan Areas. Communities with low tree canopy cover in the following counties are eligible: Centre, Lycoming, York, Lebanon, and Berks Counties.


• Areas around metropolitan areas
  Unfortunately TreeVitalize funding is presently only available to limited parts of the state. If your community is not eligible for TreeVitalize please visit PA Community Trees for other community grant opportunities.