Grueber act partners in community forestry - the 24 1 initiative for act
1. Partners in Community Forestry
The 24:1 Initiative: Reversing Years of Decline through Innovative
Partnerships
Mark Grueber, Community Forester
Missouri Department of Conservation
mark.grueber@mdc.mo.gov
Doug Seely, Community Forester
Beyond Housing
dseely@beyondhousing.org
3. Community Forestry in the St. Louis
Metropolitan Area
St. Louis City and St.
Louis County
90 cities within St. Louis
County
Workload and
opportunity
How can we (MDC)
meet the demand and
improve our services?
4. Priority Focus Areas
Common theme in many
government agencies
Our (MDC) Conservation
Priorities
• Focus fish, forest, and
wildlife management in
identified priority
geographies.
Northern St. Louis County
– historically under
served
5. Community Forestry Focus Area
MDC Community Foresters were
tasked to find/develop a focus
area in their region.
In 2014, the Missouri
Department of Conservation
(MDC) began discussions with
Beyond Housing following Tree
Resource Improvement and
Maintenance (TRIM) grant
participation by several
communities with the 24:1 area
The idea of establishing a
‘regional community forester’
was an concept that the local
MDC Community Foresters were
interested in pursuing
6. Why Beyond Housing?
Beyond Housing helps entire
communities become better
places to live
• Beyond Housing focuses on the 24
municipalities served by the
Normandy Schools Collaborative,
an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis
that has suffered decades of
disinvestment and decline. Beyond
Housing takes a place-based,
collaborative approach to our
work, meaning we work with a
variety of partners to address all
the building-blocks that make up a
thriving community: housing,
health, education, job readiness
and access, and economic
development.
8. Forging a Partnership
MDC forged a cooperative
agreement with Beyond
Housing to hire a Community
Forester and fund the
position for 5 years.
Beyond Housing tasked to
provide position and
resources to accomplish
community forestry goals:
• Management plans
• Acquiring additional financial
resources
• Involvement in Tree City USA
• Community outreach and
expansion of MDC programs
9. A Great Partnership!
Beyond Housing is the
“glue” that binds the 24
communities together
and connections to the
residents.
They also provide
experience and
expertise in regional
projects
10. Implementation
Introduced the
Community Forester to
the Mayors
Discussed expectations
with interested
communities
Adjusting community
forestry priorities
Developed project ideas
based on existing tree
inventories prioritized
based on public safety
