GREENFIELD — A 25-acre portion of the city’s downtown will soon be home to dozens of trees through a state grant-funded effort to combat extreme heat with shade.

This spring, 71 canopy trees will be planted on strips of land lining sidewalks in the area between Beacon, High, Sanderson and Federal streets. The grant will also fund the city’s purchase of 60 tree whips — young, unbranched tree seedlings — to be planted in the Tree Committee’s tree nursery and, when they’re fully grown, across the city.

The planting project, overseen by the Tree Committee, was made possible with a $117,903 Cooling Corridors grant issued by the state’s Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs.

Tree Committee member Mary Chicoine, who initiated the grant application process, said an assessment conducted in 2020 concluded that the area’s impervious surfaces and only 7% tree canopy make it prone to extreme heat and flooding. She added that the area’s proximity to Greenfield Middle School makes it a popular walking route for students.

“The project area is an area that the Greenfield Tree Committee has been trying to focus on for years, but we just haven’t had the capacity to do as large an area as this is,” Chicoine said. “When the Greenfield Tree Committee did its mapping and analysis, we found that [this area] is one of the lowest tree canopy coverage areas in the populated part of Greenfield. It’s also an area that’s classified as an Environmental Justice area based on the prevalence of low-income households.”

Most of the tree planting, which is slated to begin this spring, will be contained to public land such as grassy areas lining the sidewalks and at the site of Greenfield Middle School. However, Chicoine said other private organizations, such as Baystate Franklin Medical Center and Blessed Sacrament Church on Federal Street, have signed letters of support to allow trees on their land.

Chicoine said the Department of Public Works won’t need to be involved in the planting or weekly watering, as the grant will cover the cost of a contractor. Half the trees are expected to be planted this spring and the remainder will be planted in the fall.

“Both the hospital (Baystate) and the church were very enthusiastic about us planting along the edges of their properties, so it’s nice to have willing partners. The middle school principal was very supportive,” Chicoine said. “The eventual mature trees in that area will make a substantial difference. … That was one of the reasons that that area was targeted as well, to reduce those hot spots in areas that don’t have any tree coverage.”

The Planning Board voted to approve the plantings last August, with member Sarah Brown-Anson and Chair George Touloumtzis speaking in support of the then-proposed grant for its potential to make the area easier to walk through and more resilient in the wake of climate change.

Touloumtzis said at the August Planning Board meeting that he was pleased with the fact that the tree plantings would be paid for entirely by the state.

“There is a reasonable redistribution of wealth, if you will, where towns that would have trouble doing this [independently] get help from the state coffers,” Touloumtzis said. “I think that’s reasonable and I think it’s important to be considerate of that.”

Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at acammalleri@recorder.com or 413-930-4429.