These guides will be trained to talk about the various plants from trees to small flowers in Laurelhurst, Mt. Tabor, Sellwood, Duniway, Grant, Peninsula, South Waterfront, and Forest Parks and at Hoyt Arboretum. Plant identification, historical significance, ethnobotany, and cultural needs will be covered in the training sessions that begin in March. Training is offered on weekdays and weekends. Volunteers are needed to lead these walks and help youngsters and their parents discover the wonders of animals and plants in their neighborhood. Training is offered to introduce activities that use all five senses, games that focus on nature, and techniques to encourage parent-child interactions.
Tours take place on weekdays and weekends.
While park development will have to wait awhile, officials anticipate that the sites can be made available for informal recreational activity in the near future. Located at SE 155th and Main, the first acquisition is the 19.44 acre site adjacent to Park Lane Park and just west of Harold Oliver Elementary School. Located in one of the city s fastest growing areas, the new park will also serve a part of the community that has historically been extremely park deficient. Neighborhood activists have long advocated for more parks to serve this part of town and several plan to join Parks Commissioner Jim Francesconi to celebrate this important acquisition. The new park has been made possible with funds generated from the Parks Systems Development Charge, put in place by City Council in 1998.