BATON ROUGE, La. (KTAL/KMSS)—A university in Louisiana is building an urban and community tree nursery to provide planting stocks for urban greening in disadvantaged communities. Southern University Ag Center was awarded a $2 million grant from the USDA Forest Service Investment Recovery Act Grant Program, administered through the 1890 Foundation. Lost graves in abandoned Shreveport cemetery tell story of South Highlands The grant award was a collaborative project between the 1890 Foundation, the U.S. Forest Service, the Southern University Ag Center, and several local and state entities. The project will provide job opportunities and community outreach across the state by providing urban spaces in disadvantaged communities with more resilient tree canopies. A ceremonial check was presented in A. W. Mumford Stadium on Nov. 9 during Southern University Ag Center's Ag Week. Equal access to green spaces is key to creating healthy and sustainable communities, and tree canopies provide sociological, ecological, and environmental benefits. The grant will make it possible to establish stock plants for urban greening, help carry out urban and community forestry skill training for undergraduates, and more over the next four years. If you would like to know more about the Urban and Community Tree Nursery, email Dr. Yadong Qi, the grant’s Project Director, at yadong.qi.sus.edu