Greening The Gray

 

Each year local governments go through the budget cycle to set the focus, level and details of local expenditures. The process is divided into a focus on General Operations expenses (GO) and Capital Improvement Programs (CIP). Capital Improvement budget items focus almost exclusively on building, roads, utilities, public works, vehicles, equipment etc. (Gray Infrastructure Improvements). Any green infrastructure project expenditures a community may make are typically buried in the General Operating expenses making it difficult to track their use and level of investment. This project will produce tools allowing municipal decision makers to holistically consider costs and benefits of green infrastructure and provide examples of potential applications.

By spring of 2020 we will have planted nearly 250,000 trees across 13 counties on 106 private landowner project sites. The goal is to achieve nutrient and sediment reductions into the Chesapeake Bay through forest management.