ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — While there are nearly 70 thousand trees spread across the City of Rochester, some areas, like the northeast quadrant, have a disproportionately low share - with just 66% of available tree plots filled as of the latest update to the Urban Forest Master Plan. Research shows neighborhoods with little green space have more frequent issues with high levels of pollution and an increased impact from the urban heat island effect, which can put excess stress on residents.  To help alleviate these issues, according to Andrew Place, the City Forester and the Division of Forestry through the Urban Forest Master Plan for the City of Rochester planned to plant 6 thousand trees from 2023 to 2025. So far, nearly 4 thousand of those trees have been put in place. “Primarily focused in the northeast where our tree canopy is the lowest. The grant requires us to plant trees in underserved disadvantaged communities. So, we're really focused in the northeast, a little bit in the northwest, a little bit in the southwest as well.” The goal, other than to plant more trees, is to bring stocking levels to 85% in each quadrant of the city - a goal that, now with 3 million dollars from the USDA as part of their “Trees Expansion and Beautification Initiative,” becomes much more realistic.  “So, we were able to plant a couple hundred, a few hundred extra trees in the first year. So we are a little bit ahead of schedule. We're hoping to be able to plant a few more after that to get over 6,000,” said Place. “The funding will help us through the next year and a half or so of the large-scale planting initiative to carry out the rest of that plan.” The NYSDEC also recently awarded an additional $600 thousand through the Urban and Community Forests grant program to the department to help with a backlog of maintenance work. Specifically, to remove more stumps around the city to open up more plots for new trees to be planted.  “We also received a grant from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to help us create planning space for more trees in those disadvantaged communities by removing those stumps. So that'll help us over the next couple of years to really open up those spots for new trees,” said Place.  Outside of the work being done through these grants, the city and the Division of Forestry continue to implement the feedback they received while updating the Urban Forest Master plan, which was released earlier this year. Some of these include the implementation of an Urban Microforest, which is in the early stages of planning - with more details set to come on what this will look like and where it will be installed.