The City of Atlantic City is among the inaugural recipients of New Jersey’s Natural Climate Solutions Grant program, the Murphy administration announced.
Atlantic City was awarded $759,000 for shade tree and vegetation planting along Atlantic Avenue. The city will plant 180 trees along 13 blocks. The trees will be planted by an experienced landscaper, and the city is working with the Special Improvement District to water and maintain the trees once they are planted.
“This grant allows us to continue our aggressive clean and safe efforts by reducing our carbon footprint while beautifying Atlantic Avenue in the process,” said Mayor Marty Small, Sr. “We will be paving and installing new lighting on Atlantic Avenue from Maine to Tennessee Avenues this Spring, and will now have the ability to add shade trees and plantings to this project.”
The application was supported by the Atlantic City Shade Tree Commission, the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, Atlantic Cape Community College, the First Ward Civic Association, and the AtlantiCare Foundation.According to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, the Natural Climate Solutions Grant program funds $24.3-million in on-the-ground implementation of projects that create, restore, and enhance New Jersey’s natural carbon sinks, such as salt marshes, seagrass beds, forests, urban parks and woodlands, and street trees. This project is funded through New Jersey’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a multi-state, market-based program that establishes a regional cap on carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel power plants.
