SALEM — Demand for Oregon-grown nursery stock could get a boost from tree-planting legislation that’s intended to improve the livability of the state’s struggling urban communities.

House Bill 3016 would create a grant program to fund “green infrastructure” projects, which use trees to mitigate the impacts of climate change while filtering water and increasing property values, among other benefits.

“Simply put, this bill is long overdue and is an essential piece of legislation for advancing a long-forgotten aspect of our built environment: These one-legged friends of ours, urban trees,” said Vivek Shandas, an urban studies professor at Portland State University.

An unlikely alliance between the Oregon Association of Nurseries and an environmental justice nonprofit, Verde, helped bring about the bill, which doesn’t yet have a price tag attached.

The grant program would emphasize pollinator-friendly native species with low maintenance requirements, as well as projects that strengthen communities and provide local jobs, among other criteria.

Cities that have long-term supply agreements with Oregon nurseries would also be prioritized for grants, which would be disbursed by the Department of Land Conservation and Development in consultation with other state agencies.

“Oregon is known around the world for our magnificent trees, but for all the tremendous wealth of canopy our forests hold, we also have unshaded areas with inadequate tree canopy in what are known as heat islands,” said Rep. Khanh Pham, D-Portland, a chief sponsor of HB 3016.

Funds would be awarded with an eye toward greater “tree equity,” relying on a remote-sensing tool that assesses where tree canopy should be increased, said Scott Altenhoff, urban and community forest program manager with the state’s Department of Forestry, which would provide technical assistance.

“More affluent areas of cities typically receive more tree care, and more resources surrounding trees, yet need those benefits less,” he said.

Apart from considering gains and losses in urban tree canopies over time, the tool also examines socioeconomic and demographic factors, Altenhoff said. The commercially available technology is already being used in a county pilot program.

“It is a tested tool,” he said.

Problems with overheated, unshaded pavement in lower-income urban areas are likely to grow worse as temperatures rise, according to the bill’s supporters.

Meanwhile, certain species within existing urban tree canopies may become ill-suited to their area or encounter increased pressure from pests and disease.

Communities would receive technical assistance under HB 3016 to anticipate such issues and eventually replace trees with better-suited specimens.

Urban foresters often struggle to pay for planting projects and desperately need an investment in “high quality, climate-resilient trees,” said Mike Oxendine, executive director of the Oregon Urban Rural Community Forestry nonprofit.

“Nursery production requires years of investment and development because trees take time to grow,” he said. “The time to act is now.”