SOUTH HADLEY — South Hadley will expand its urban canopy over the next two years through the Environmental Justice Tree Planting Program, an initiative that calls for planting 400 trees to replace old trees and boost the town’s climate resilience.

South Hadley received about $80,000 in grants from the Massachusetts Department of Conservation’s Urban and Community Forestry Challenge Program and Executive Office of Environmental Affairs’s Cooling Corridors Program to plant trees in residential neighborhoods.

During the first year, South Hadley’s Environmental Justice Tree Planting Program will plant 100 trees in the South Hadley Falls section of town and around the neighborhoods of Mount Holyoke College. Other properties in town are eligible for the program the following year.

“Big trees are being removed around town due to the end of their life span and they aren’t being replanted,” Tree Warden Rebekah Cornell said. “People see the change in our street trees, but also people really value the benefit of the natural environment in this community.”

Cornell earmarked some of the grant funds for a lecture series on urban forests’ impact and care. The Shade Tree Challenge series will feature a talk on March 20 about the role of urban forests in climate mitigation, a training on protecting and caring for trees on April 10 and a lecture about the support native trees provide to wildlife on June 12.

The Environmental Justice Tree Planting Program grew out of the free tree plantings South Hadley offered as part of the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness grant the town received in 2021. As more and more residents asked Cornell about missing trees along the roadside, she searched for grants that expanded on previous tree plantings.

The neighborhoods selected for the first round of tree planting have high quantities of impervious surfaces, Cornell said, and often miss out on the various climate and physical benefits of trees within the community.

“We know in the planning realm that environmental justice communities tend to be overlooked for a lot of things, including benefits trees provide, such as effecting heating and cooling costs in their dwelling, the mental and physical benefits that come from trees and the sense of community trees bring, not just in presence but by involving community in the planting program.”

Property owners can apply to plant one of 10 species of trees on the front or side of their home for the community to enjoy. Picked by the Tree Committee, the selection of tree species mixes native plants with cultivars that tolerate urban conditions like road salt, high temperatures and limited space.

“The town already has a lot of maples and oaks along the streets,” Cornell said. “People know that oak has a lot of benefits, but we already have oaks, so we wanted to diversify the urban forest.”

The committee also looked for trees that grew between 25 and 30 feet and climbed upward, rather than outward, in order to prevent branches from entangling in power lines and hitting homes. Trees include Heritage River Birch, Katsura, Magyar Maidenhair Tree, Espresso Kentucky Coffeetree, Upright Tulip Tree, Eastern Hop Hornbeam, Ruby Vase Persian Ironwood, Bloodgood London Plane Boulevard Linden and Red Oak. The tree selection will change each time applications open.

Anyone interested in having a tree on their property can apply on the program’s website by April 1. The program also is looking for volunteers, or “tree stewards,” who have a passion for trees and who can dig, kneel and lift 50 pounds.

“Planting trees is an easy way to help be resilient against climate change,” Cornell said. “Trees impact all of us, even if we’re not aware of it. We can’t solve a lot of problems, but we can plant trees.”

Emilee Klein can be reached at eklein@gazettenet.com.