Conservation

We support the planting of hundreds of trees, shrubs, grasses, and plants throughout the park, including London plane, snowberry and bald cypress varieties. The London planes in particular highlight the park's walkways as allée plantings, and visitors frequently inquire about them.

Volunteers that are part of our co-managed volunteer program with the National Park Service are vital to making our conservation work happen. We engage dozens of volunteers from the community every year for mulching projects and planting projects that include replacing invasive plant species with native, sustainable species.

We also partner with community organizations to lead cleanups of the park and the St. Louis Riverfront, resulting in the removal of hundreds of pounds of trash from entering the Mississippi River – and subsequently the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean – and keeping St. Louis' "front door" looking amazing.

Conservation Impacts in 2024:

• Volunteers planted more than 200 pounds of grass seed in the North Gateway Meadow through our Corporate Volunteer Program.
• The Foundation’s three riverfront cleanups held in partnership with the National Park Service hosted 339 volunteers who collected more than 5,100 pounds of materials from the river, including 291 pounds of recyclables.
• Through our co-managed volunteer program with the park, the volunteer team kicked off the first drop-in days of service, creating a designated day each month for individuals to help NPS’ grounds team with various projects.
• This year, we introduced a new ecological monitor volunteer position. These volunteers help document the park’s wildlife, providing valuable insight for both NPS and the public to better understand the biodiversity within our urban park.
• The co-managed volunteer program also hosted two BioBlitz events, which are events where people gather during a specific and short amount of time to document the biodiversity of the park.