Forest Park Forever’s First Endowed Position Has Nonprofit Better Positioned for Post-Tornado Tree Restoration
Members of Forest Park Forever's arbor team plant a new tree along the dual recreational path in a tornado-damaged section of Forest Park near Lindell and Skinker boulevards. These trees were sourced during the summer following the May 16, 2025, tornado and arrived for the planting season in late fall and winter 2025-26.
Forest Park Forever’s first-ever endowed staff position has been established at an important time for the nonprofit conservancy’s daily and long-term care of the City of St. Louis’ largest park.
When a tornado ripped through the Park on May 16, 2025, the nonprofit was better positioned to plan long-term recovery to the tree canopy thanks to the McDonnell Conservation Arborist position established in 2023 and the dedicated arbor team that has been built since then.
With over 3,100 trees lost and an additional 2,100 impacted by the storm, damage to the canopy is widespread and will take decades to restore. But McDonnell Conservation Arborist Kendall Wachter was already in place to lead the new arbor team that is focused on that recovery. The endowed position held by Wachter was established with funding from a major gift by Elizabeth and James McDonnell during the Forever campaign a decade ago.
Prior to establishing this position, planting and caring for trees fell within the duties of Forest Park Forever’s horticulture team, which designs, plants and maintains hundreds of thousands of square feet of landscapes throughout Forest Park. Now, however, the McDonnell Conservation Arborist leads an eight-member team of tree experts whose primary focus is to source, plant, care for and monitor one of the 1,300-acre Park’s most precious assets, its 45,000 trees.
The work this team was already doing, in close partnership with the City of St. Louis Forestry Division, positioned it to address the loss of thousands of trees in a single afternoon. Forest Park Forever had experts on staff to identify hazardous trees and limbs, safely remove them and source contractors and volunteers that could help multiply the arbor team’s impact while coordinating with the City of St. Louis.
Repair, Recovery, Renewal
Members of the arbor team use a truck to load mulch around a newly planted tree, part of a multi-year approach to restoring the tree canopy after the May 2025 tornado.
To get a head start on replacing the decades-old trees that were lost, Wachter visited nurseries throughout the summer to identify larger trees – some three- to six-inch caliper – to purchase and plant in Forest Park. Planting got underway in the fall and winter, with plans to plant 6,000 trees over the next five years. Last fall’s Forest Restoration Day with volunteers included hundreds of small trees in Successional Forest as well as large replacements trees by Wachter’s team.
“In a typical year, we might plant 300 to 500 trees in the ‘mowed and manicured’ areas of the Park – the recreational areas excluding Kennedy and Successional Forests,” said Roman Fox, director of Land Management. “But with our arbor team in place before the tornado’s impact, we can plant many more while ensuring these trees get the on-going support they need to thrive.”
That support includes regular watering, mulching, monitoring, pruning and shaping in the first few years after planting, which are critical to ensuring their optimal health and survival.
A database of trees in Forest Park helps Forest Park Forever’s arbor team, led by the McDonnell Conservation Arborist, can make informed, strategic decisions about caring for current trees and planting new ones.
“Working with our City partners to ensure the long-term health and succession of Forest Park’s tree canopy is one of the important roles we’ve assumed as our nonprofit reaches its 40th anniversary,” said Lesley Hoffarth, Forest Park Forever’s president and executive director. “So adding the McDonnell Conservation Arborist endowed position was an essential part of that plan. It’s difficult to imagine where we’d be in tornado recovery if this natural disaster had happened 10, even five years ago before this position and our arbor team were established.”
“Forest Park is defined by its trees and the shade and beauty they provide for visitors,” said James S. McDonnell III. “Endowing this position ensures that the tree canopy, which is so fundamental to this community asset, will receive the expert care needed to sustain it.”
As the nonprofit conservancy’s staff has grown to cover its greater role in daily Park care, an endowed position like this ensures continued funding for this essential area of expertise.
“By having our team in place to care for existing trees and strategically plant new ones, we’re ensuring that the tree canopy will be healthy and resilient so that it continues to provide the community with a place to rest and recreate for generations to come,” Wachter said.