Forest Park is more than just trees and trails—it’s a living, breathing biodiversity sanctuary that has relied on community care for generations to come. Join the Forest Park Conservancy and local experts for a conversation about the park’s origins, the efforts to preserve public access, and how that legacy continues to shape stewardship today.

From its early history to today’s efforts, this event highlights the community’s essential role in shaping and sustaining one of the nation’s largest urban forests. Through stories of resilience, advocacy, and community involvement, we’ll explore how Forest Park came to be—and what it takes to keep it thriving.

Whether you’re a longtime supporter or just beginning to explore the park, this is a chance to learn, connect, and be inspired to help steward its future.

Meet the speakers:

• Marcy Cottrell Houle, MS, is a professional wildlife biologist and the author of seven award-winning books. Two of her books – Wings for My Flight, and The Gift of Caring — received the national Christopher Award “For books that affirm the highest values of the human spirit.” Her book The Prairie Keepers: Secrets of the Zumwalt was selected by the New York Times as a Notable Book and Best Book for Earth Day. She is a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times and LA Times and written for the Nature Conservancy Magazine, Cricket Magazine for Children, Readers Digest, the New York Times, and Smithsonian Magazine. Marcy lives with her family on a small farm on Sauvies Island, Oregon.
• David Barrios is a Park Ranger for Forest Park.  He is also an Indigenous elder in the urban Native community of Portland, Oregon. He is featured in Marcy Houle’s book, “The Gift of Aging: Growing Older with Purpose, Planning, and Positivity.”
• Chris Prescott is a watershed ecologist with the City of Portland Bureau of Environmental Services Regulatory Division. He is involved in study design, data collection, data management, data analysis and reporting for Endangered Species Act, Clean Water Act, and watershed restoration efforts, as well as providing technical support for policy development. Prior to working for the City of Portland, Chris was the Chief Scientist for the Puget Sound Ambient Monitoring Program. He received his bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies and Biology from New College in Sarasota, Florida, and his master’s degree in Ecology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
• Hannah Prather is an NSF postdoctoral research fellow and Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. Her PhD and teaching career has focused on the intricate relationship among lichens, bryophytes, host trees, and the surrounding ecosystem, all set against the dynamic backdrop of climate change and urbanization. Her work has taken place around the globe, most notably in tall trees species, urban environments, and polar ecosystems. At Reed, she teaches courses on the Lichens of the Pacific Northwest and Forest Canopy Ecophysiology. She regularly leads local lichen hikes and classes and in her spare time enjoys trail running, mountain biking, skiing, and climbing trees