Celebrating Park and Recreation Professionals in Forest Park
July is Park and Recreation Month. It is a time we dedicate to celebrating and highlighting the work our Park Operations professionals put into our beloved Forest Park.
The Forest Park Forever team is packed with passionate individuals who love this special place and bring valuable expertise across various areas, from horticulture and ecology to project management and mechanics. The knowledge and work our Park Operations team puts into Forest Park, in partnership with the St. Louis City Department of Parks, Recreation, and Forestry, restores and sustains this heart of St. Louis as the #1 City Park in the United States!
“We are so lucky to have Forest Park. Thanks to all the people that make it look and feel so amazing year after year. We noticed and we’re impressed ❤️”
The national theme of Park and Recreation Month is "Where Community Grows" and our Park Operations teams embody that. Our work in tandem with the City of St. Louis, other organizations and industry professionals is an inspiring model for parks leaders from other cities.
St. Louis City Department of Parks, Recreation, and Forestry and Forest Park Forever work together outside of the Jewel Box.
Nature Reserve Team
Forest Park spans 1,380 acres inside St. Louis City and consists of nearly 194 acres of Nature Reserve containing old-growth and restored native forests, woodlands, tall grass prairies, savannas, wetlands and 2.5 nautical miles of reconstructed waterways.
One area of Nature Reserve is the 15-acre Deer Lake Savanna – a favorite "secret spot" for many parkgoers. This year, our team spent over 700 hours maintaining habitat in this area for more than 230 different species of native plants, trees, shrubs, forbs, grasses, sedges and rushes.
“Forest Park is a work of art. Sometimes we are so busy thinking about what we don’t have, that we fail to appreciate all the treasures surrounding us.”
Over the last nine months, the Nature Reserve team dedicated more than 1,400 hours to support habitat across 68 acres of John F Kennedy Memorial Forest. Their work to sustain in this old-growth forest supports over 335 different species of native plants, animals, Herps (reptiles and amphibians), Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths, caterpillars too), Odonata (flying friends like dragonflies) and more.
The photographs below were taken by Ryan Wilson, a Nature Reserve staff member, and are just a sampling of critters and creatures this team encounters and identifies. Pictured from left to right: a tree frog, a thistle with three variety of bees, a Dogbane Leaf beetle and a Dagger Moth caterpillar.
Park, Planning & Projects Team
Forest Park Forever’s Park Planning and Projects (PPP) team oversees capital improvement projects and hardscape maintenance throughout the Park, working in close coordination with our City of St. Louis partners. These folks take care of the pumps, fountains, fixtures and capital projects — like adding Basketball to recreational amenities and our East Waterways Project — and they've been busy this year.
The Anne O'C. Albrecht Nature Playscape is a 17-acre experiential play space with natural and native landscapes that include diverse species. Since its opening in 2021, the Nature Playscape continues to evolve as our experts learn how play affects the landscape, and how a changing landscape influences play. This free destination's most popular features — especially in the summer — are the hand water pumps and curated spring where folks can play.
Because children and adults are attracted to the water, our team wanted to improve their experience in 2023 but reduce the amount of water used. Earlier this year, project crews enlarged the "water play" area to 400 linear feet, containing four bubbler springs, three hand water pumps, two ponds, one waterfall, and one mud pit that inspire countless smiles from visitors. Now the Playscape's stream channels from the top bubbler near Concourse Drive all the way to Carr Lane Drive at the bottom. And the PPP team reduced water usage by nearly 50%!
“You might visit this place today and think it’s been natural for years. No, this is what it takes to reclaim mowed expanses of weeds into an ecosystem of diverse flora and fauna.”
Horticulture Team
Working alongside the PPP team, our Horticulture team brings their knowledge and skills to enhance the Nature Playscape. Pictured below is a small sampling of the over 100,000 daffodil bulbs this team planted in fall 2022 that bloomed some of the first colors in the Park to inspire kids and adults in spring 2023.
The Horticulture team has dedicated over 650 hours to the Playscape this year. In addition to flowers and grasses, they planted 66 trees, including a champion McBaine Bur Oak that will provide shade and habitat for generations of visitors and migratory birds who rely on Forest Park.
“Dear Forest Park, I just wanted to let you know that I really enjoy your Nature Playscape area now. I went there last year and I don’t remember it having so many plants. But right now, it is very beautiful. Please continue to keep it like that. Thanks!”
Forest Park is known and loved for its picturesque landscapes and recreational sports areas. No matter the season, the World's Fair Pavilion on Government Hill, Art Hill above Emerson Grand Basin are two areas of the Park where breathtaking beauty meets all kinds of activity. These dual-purpose landscapes indeed highlight our Land Management team's work and expertise.
The flowerbeds at the top and either side of Art Hill are a backdrop to countless memorable moments, photos and paintings. Forest Park Forever horticulturalists hand-select each plant and intentionally construct this living scenery to change with the season. So far this year, the team has dedicated over nine full weeks (365.5 hours) to digging, planting, watering and maintaining over 556 annuals and perennials in these four flower beds. This team also replants the trampled grass on Art Hill to prevent unsightly lines of dead foliage through the lush green landscape.
“Thank you for keeping our park in top shape!!”
Our Park Operations team brings their knowledge, skills and expertise to create a habitat in Forest Park for humans and wildlife to thrive in any season. Their essential work is invaluable to Forest Park being a space for our community to come together for recreation or respite any day of the week.
Did You Know? Maintenance of Forest Park depends on the generous support of Forest Park Forever members, private donors and volunteers like you. You can help sustain Forest Park for generations by becoming a member or volunteer today.