Forest Park Forever 

      Today I walked through Forest Park in St. Louis, Missouri, USA.; the site the 1904 World's Fair. I have seen transformations of Forest Park since the late 1960's and have the most vivid memories of the 1970's Forest Park. The park showcased the attractions left behind by the World's Fair and the lush rolling hills of an area zoned a park in the 1800's (1876). 1,300 acres and over 30 miles of paths and trails. 

     Forest Park is known for its wooded areas on the 1,300 acres. The tall trees providing shade on the long hot days of summer. 20 years ago, I trained in hand-to-hand combat with the Wash U ROTC under the tall trees along the Grand Basin in Forest Park. Today the trees have been cut into pieces. The 50 to 75-foot-tall trees were left lying on the ground after the storm. It is not just along the Grand Basin that the damage happened. The Norman Probstein Golf Course St. Louis is missing a large number of trees.

      This spring I saw a small herd of deer running through the park. In an area surrounded by Urban Life a herd of fifteen deer is not expected: though, Forest Park is now nestled in the center of Downtown (Mid-Town) St. Louis, Missouri, USA population well over 275,000 when you combine the Urban and Suburban areas surrounding the main city. Families have relied on Forest Park for the lush open nature lifestyle in the city. When inner city families are able to take a Metro-Bus or Metrolink train to the "Green Acres" of Forest Park. Everyone's able to see why we need "Forest Park Forever."​ Tall trees with large canopies produce shade and improve air quality. 500 acres of woodland in an urban area is a huge help in offsetting the Greater St. Louis areas "Global Ecological Footprint." The large canopies use Carbon Monoxide and are credited with lowering the "Urban Heat Island Effect."

     The cost of planting trees is easily offset by the positives of reversing the Urban Heat Island Effect. The problem is a sapling takes decades to replace a 50 foot to 75-foot tree. Some of the trees toppled may be as old as the park itself; no matter if planted before the 1904 World's Fair for aesthetic effect or left in place during construction of the fair's attractions. St. Louis needs to restore the park "Forest Park Forever."

   

By Darren Dwayne Frazier

Photos by Highland Productions LLC