January 15, 2025, marked the starting point of a multi-year effort to strengthen the green infrastructure in West Jackson. That effort is called Gateways to a Greener Jackson. Thanks to a $10 million grant from the USDA Forest Service, Jackson State University’s Office of Community Engagement is working with the Pecan Tree Park Neighborhood Association, Center for Social Entrepreneurship, JSU’s Department of Urban & Regional Planning as well as the cities of Greenville, Jackson, Rolling Fork, and Vicksburg to enhance the urban forests that exist in our communities.

The main objectives of Gateways to a Greener Jackson are:

1. The enhancement of tree canopies along gateways to JSU
2. Flood mitigation related to the Lynch Creek watershed
3. Enhancing cemetery and recreational spaces, and
4. Workforce development and sustainability

We have been making good progress towards our objectives. Our community partner, the Pecan Tree Park Neighborhood Association, has been hosting a series of capacity building workshops for community members to learn more about the importance and care of trees. Their Urban Forestry 101 workshop attracted 80 participants from around West Jackson. They have also worked with Shady Arbor, LLC to assess the health of 97 trees throughout the Pecan Tree Park neighborhood. These trees have been marked for pruning or removal and those within the public right-of-way will soon be serviced by professional tree cutters.

Another community partner, the Center for Entrepreneurship, is wrapping up its first cohort of ten landscaping entrepreneurs. These small business owners have been attending evening lectures to learn how to properly and safely maintain trees in the community. The end goal of this effort is to expand the services these businesses can provide to their customers while pruning trees in a manner that will ensure the continued longevity of our urban forests.

Meanwhile, the Department of Urban & Regional Planning is completing its first cohort of six students who are interested in careers in urban forestry. These students have shadowed urban foresters in the field and attended workshops in the community to strengthen their knowledge of forestry. We look forward to the growth of this program as additional students participate in the department’s future cohorts.

In Vicksburg, the city has engaged tree cutters in some much-needed maintenance of Beulah and Cedar Hill Cemeteries. Through their grant subaward, Vicksburg has been able to prune seven trees and remove 64 dead or dying trees in these sacred spaces. Within the next year, they plan to plant new trees in Cedar Hill cemetery and the new Golding River Front Park. They will also plant trees in Pearl Street Park and Kings Park playgrounds as well as the newly renamed Myrlie Evers Civil Rights Park (formerly Kuhn Civil Rights Park).

Our capital city, Jackson, is also a subawardee on this effort. They are currently preparing to engage a professional arborist to inspect and make recommendations on existing trees at publicly-owned properties such as Livingston Park, Cedar Lawn Cemetery, the Jackson Zoo, and Willow Park Cemetery. Once recommendations are made, they will engage contractors to prune, remove, and plant trees as recommended.

We have similar efforts happening here at Jackson State University. Contractors have already removed one dying tree at the Z.T. Hubert Building; removed two dead trees and pruned five trees at the Mt. Olive Cemetery; and removed 127 dead trees between Wingfield Place and the Mississippi e-Center. We are now preparing to engage an arborist to conduct an inventory of trees on JSU’s main campus to identify immediate tree maintenance needs. Once these needs are outlined, we will engage contractors in pruning trees to promote health and safety and removing any dead trees that may exist. We are also in the process of engaging a landscape architect to assist us with a planting plan for the main campus and the corridors that lead to our campus from the community.

We’ve also hired staff to assist us with implementing this project. Curnis Upkins, III serves as the Senior Project Coordinator, Ashley Everett is the Administrative Assistant, and Derrion Barnes will soon join our team as the Community Media Specialist.

Meanwhile, the cities of Greenville and Rolling Fork are assessing their best opportunities to tackle tree maintenance and planting needs through their grant subaward budgets.

Yes, there are many moving parts related to fully implementing this federally funded project. However, once the momentum has reached maximum velocity, this will be an excellent opportunity to address the urban & community forestry needs of the neighborhoods near Jackson State University and in the three Mississippi Delta communities beyond.