Community Forestry

Trees for Ligonier

Trees for Ligonier is a project of the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy in partnership with the Borough of Ligonier in Westmoreland County. With a generous grant from the Richard King Mellon Foundation, our team established a comprehensive community forestry program in the borough that includes technical support services, education and outreach, planting and maintenance plans, and volunteer engagement.

We’ve been working closely with the Borough of Ligonier since 2014 to implement a comprehensive street and public park tree inventory. The goal of this effort is to provide a detailed guide for future urban forestry practices in the borough.

WPC began the project with technical support services in Ligonier, which included a full street and park tree inventory resulting in a final report that includes short- and long-term recommendations. WPC’s forester and certified arborist collected data focusing on species, size, age and health of all public trees. WPC’s final report includes an iTree Analysis, a leading forestry analysis model developed by the US Forest Service and Davey Tree Company. This analysis provides data on the current environmental, economic and aesthetic benefits of Ligonier’s street and park tree population. Ligonier’s public trees currently return $81,145 in benefits to the community annually. These benefits will increase over time as the tree canopy grows.

WPC has partnered with the Ligonier Borough and the Shade Tree Commission members to implement education and outreach efforts for businesses, property owners and residents. Community education and outreach helps guarantee the success of community forestry projects so that everyone has a vested interest in valuing, planting and caring for their trees now and in the future. Community tree plantings have added 112 new trees with the help of 134 volunteers over since fall 2015.

For More Information:

Western Pennsylvania Conservancy
800 Waterfront Drive
Pittsburgh, PA  15222

412-586-2386
trees@paconserve.org