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 2025:

• The Foundation’s two riverfront cleanups held in partnership with the National Park Service hosted 160 volunteers who collected more than one ton of materials from the river, including 258 pounds of recyclables.
• Through our co-managed volunteer program with the park, we continued to support the 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.
• Also through our co-managed volunteer program with the park, we offer days of service for individuals interested in assisting the National Park Service grounds team. This year, 161 individual volunteers contributed 902 hours of work in the park. We also had 16 groups of volunteers that contributed 446 hours.