The Rooting Resilience Program provides funding and assistance for communities to improve their urban and community forests 

As we wind down the first full year of work for our Rooting Resilience Program, we’re reflecting on its impact. The program got much-needed funding and support to groups working to increase their community’s tree coverage. These trees will improve local water quality, build resilience to extreme weather, and benefit community health, connections, and well-being.

Watch the video to learn about a tree planting program in Nashville, TN.

At River Network, we know that community groups are key agents for change at the local and regional level, and that they are the experts on what will work best for their specific locations. That’s why since 2024, we have been excited to partner with the Forest Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to fund community-based forestry work through organizations on the ground. River Network has stewarded federal dollars for over 25 years, ensuring they flow directly to the local communities that need them the most. We had the opportunity to do this again through Rooting Resilience, giving local leaders the tools they need to improve their communities’ natural environment, local economies and residents’ quality of life, through the many benefits that trees provide.

Through the Rooting Resilience Program, River Network awarded $6.2 million to nine local and state government partners and another $3.3 million to twenty-one community-based organizations and Indigenous communities. Over $2.5 million has already reached local communities in 2025, the Program’s first full year of activity. Over  the next few years, these projects will continue to increase tree cover, help keep communities cool during extreme heat, and increase public access and community connections to green spaces.

With this project funding, people are making real and tangible differences in communities. Organizations have the resources for: much-needed maintenance to existing trees, planting new trees in areas of need, creating culturally and ecologically important food forests, integrating Indigenous cultural knowledge with modern forestry and stewardship practices, bringing educational and volunteer opportunities to community members where they can learn about and help grow their local tree canopy, and exposing youth to career training opportunities so we can build the next generation of community stewards and forestry professionals.

Funding for the first full year of these projects is already making a difference, even for the community initiatives that are just ramping up and putting their first trees in the ground.

Green Interchange, a nonprofit organization in Nashville, TN, is working with their municipal and community partners on the “Napier Green & Complete Street Project” to ensure that city plans for “green” streets with roadside trees incorporate community input that will bring beauty, traffic calming, ecological benefits, and opportunities for community engagement within Nashville’s Napier neighborhood. While the bulk of tree planting is scheduled for the spring, this project has engaged both youth and adult community members through opportunities to care for the existing trees and weigh in on the final plans for the street designs.

Another grantee, Protectores de Cuencas in Puerto Rico, shared that the most inspiring parts of the work so far have been community events and tree giveaways that educate community members about the archipelago’s native trees. Community members who receive a tree sapling agree to plant it on their property and acknowledge the care they must give the tree so that it thrives during its early establishment period.

The Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation used Rooting Resilience and other funding to restore a cultural site that is sacred to the Tribe in Preston, Idaho. They’ve received record-breaking interest from volunteers wanting to get involved. At an event this November, hundreds of people helped to plant tens of thousands of trees that will help heal and restore the land.

Beyond funding, the Rooting Resilience Program also aims to help grantees strengthen their organizational infrastructure and ensure their projects’ longevity. So far, the program has offered training, one-on-one assistance, peer-to-peer learning, and coaching to help build skills, strengthen organizational systems, support collaboration, and enhance program design and delivery.

River Network’s is excited for the potential of this funding to strengthen organizations and the communities they serve. We hope these investments continue building the capacity of these groups rooted in community, allowing them to access future funding opportunities, protect their waterways, and create more resilient communities through forestry work.