Friday, July 26, 2024
U.S. Department of Agriculture Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment Dr. Homer Wilkes visited Samuel Clemens School and its neighborhood on Thursday, July 25, to see the effects of a federal forestry grant awarded to Milwaukee.
The $12 million grant, part of the federal Inflation Reduction Act, is being used to expand the city’s tree canopies, especially in historically disadvantaged neighborhoods. Work made possible by the grant provides skilled, family-supporting jobs while planting more trees to benefit residents’ health and the environment.
Three Milwaukee Public Schools students will be among the City of Milwaukee Forestry Services’ arborist apprentices. The apprentices learn how to care for the city’s 194,000 trees, from pruning to felling dying trees to planting new trees, as they prepare to become skilled tradespeople.
“I’m convinced that the investment was worth it,” Under Secretary Dr. Homer Wilkes said after seeing forestry demonstrations by city arborists and hearing of the Forestry Services’ educational outreach and collaborative efforts.
Wilkes also learned about the green schoolyards program during his visit. So far, 31 MPS schools since 2019 have received green spaces for learning and play, as well as recreation areas and features for stormwater management. Five of the green schoolyards — at Forest Home Avenue, Greenfield Bilingual, Lincoln Avenue, Morse Middle/Milwaukee Sign Language, and Story Hill Schools — will make their debuts when schools reopen in September.
Samuel Clemens School, 3600 W. Hope Ave., is among five schools due to receive a green schoolyard in 2025. The green schoolyards are the result of a partnership with the City of Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, and the nonprofit organization Reflo, among others.
During the under secretary’s visit, students attending summer camp at Clemens took part in a Reflo activity that demonstrated the effect of urban heat islands — areas heated through the effects of pavement and buildings. The campers took the surface temperature on the paved playground, near the school building, and at a grassy area to see the effect.
A roundtable capped the under secretary’s visit. Wilkes and his delegation met with MPS Interim Superintendent Eduardo Galván, Milwaukee Forestry Services Manager Randy Krouse, and others in the Clemens library.