A Twin Cities community group will extend the deadline to apply to receive one of 40 trees for another two weeks.

Only three people have applied to the Lewiston-Auburn Community Forest Board for one of the trees, according to member David Griswold.

“It’s safe to say we’ll plant the trees later this summer, so we have plenty of time,” he said.

The group hopes to plant 20 trees per community. The trees are about 2 inches in diameter and between eight and 10 feet tall.

Property owners will be responsible for $100 in costs after the trees are planted.

Arborists from both cities will select which properties will get trees.

They are hoping to put them in neighborhoods that are at least 50 years old.

“Our overall goal is to promote the quality of life in Lewiston-Auburn by improving the urban forest,” Griswold said.

The group isn’t concerned with traditional forests and open space but with trees planted along city streets and next to buildings.

“Where you see trees on strips of land between sidewalks, in yards or vacant lots, that’s where we focus,” he said.

“Anywhere in the urban area where it’s more densely populated, that’s what we are devoted to,” he added.

Applications are available at the Lewiston Public Library, the Auburn Public Library, Auburn Hall and Lewiston City Hall.

Griswold said the group will continue taking applications through May 16 – the first day of Arbor Week in Maine.

He the group to announce winners before Memorial Day.