Gov. Maura Healey visits Chicopee school to mark Arbor Day, touts tree-planting programs and funding

Governor Maura Healey visited General John J. Stefanik Elementary School in Chicopee on Wednesday to celebrate Arbor Day and Earth Week with students and state officials, highlight the states tree-planting programs and mark what officials said was the programs 40,000th planted tree.

At the event, Healey thanked local leaders and educators and told students the visit was about trees, cooling and protecting their future. "A $160,000,000,000," she said when referring to what the state had received from the Biden administration for related clean-energy efforts, and added those funds would be used in part to expand solar and community-based projects.

Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Rebecca Tepper described the Greening the Gateway Cities program and the newly emphasized Cooling Corridors effort as ways to focus tree-planting and cooling benefits in communities that have historically had less tree cover. Tepper said the state has invested $30,000,000 over the last 10 years in tree planting through the program and that the administration is also devoting $50,000,000 to forest conservation aimed at meeting a broader goal to preserve 40% of natural and working lands by 2050.

"Planting trees is a key component of doing that," Tepper said, speaking to students about how trees capture carbon, reduce heat and improve air quality. She introduced team members from the Department of Conservation and Recreation and other program staff who help run the initiative.

The Department of Conservation and Recreation representative who spoke at the event (identified in the transcript as Brian Rigaud) framed the program as originating in 2014 and expanding to 23 gateway communities, including Chicopee. He credited municipal and private partners and described the programs benefits in reducing urban heat island effects and lowering energy consumption for residents.

Organizers led students and guests to plant a tree on school grounds during the ceremony. The governor and event hosts said the tree planted at Stefanik Elementary represents the programs 40,000th tree; participants posed for photographs and moved to the planting area to begin digging.

The event mixed celebration and outreach: officials emphasized environmental justice goals, workforce and internship opportunities connected to park and tree-care work, and the educational value for students who participated in the planting.

No formal votes or policy actions were taken at the event; officials used the gathering to announce program milestones and funding commitments as described above. Further details about the federal funds Healey cited and the timeline or distribution of the solar investments she mentioned were not provided during the remarks and were described only as comments made at the event.