Washington State University is working with four local community colleges to improve tree canopy cover in several urban areas throughout the state. The five-year project, designed to increase resilience amid a changing climate, is supported by a nearly $1.8 million Inflation Reduction Act grant from the USDA Forest Service Urban and Community Forestry Program. WSU researchers will collaborate with faculty and students to create thriving urban forests in neighborhoods near those schools. …Partners at the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) hope the project will result in a more diverse and skilled workforce while inspiring colleges throughout the country to embrace similar approaches. …“A lot of these students are not necessarily on environmental science career tracks,” Joey Hulbert, at the WSU Puyallup Research & Extension Center and the project’s principal investigator said. “It’s a good opportunity to inspire them to work with trees and reach them before they really decide on a career path.”