In 2022 Lisa Wilcke took on a project that had been needling at some of us tree geeks: the old tree map.

There were species misidentified, trees not where they were supposed to be on the map, some were not in good health, and some had been removed. The old brochure was still being handed out at the Visitors Center and the kiosk, and every time a teacher cheerfully passed out copies of the map to their classes to learn more about trees, it kind of made some of us feel queasy.

Lisa saw problem with something in the park and set out to find people to help her fix it. She enlisted the help of a number of arborist friends and people at Hoyt Arboretum to come up with correct species identification. Lisa worked with board member Sebastian Busby to make the map interactive. In some cases she found a healthier example of a certain tree species, focused on NW native trees, and on unusual specimens like the large Strawberry tree and the Himalayan spruce.

Lisa’s husband Ron and son Kurt helped remove a huge amount of blackberry that was around the Strawberry tree. It was almost impossible to see the form and the distinctive bark on this tree, and assess its health when it was surrounded by vines.

Lisa has also been so helpful volunteering to lead urban nature series events and teach people about local ecology in Mt. Tabor Park. She led an event for kids, that included songs, and taught them how to tell the difference between a conifer and broadleaf tree, and that not all cones are pinecones. Lisa will be leading some walks featuring trees on the tree map soon, so check taborfriends.org for updates…

So when you’re in the park and see one of the many 4x4 posts with a number on it, you can point your phone at the QR code, or visit taborfriends.org. The tree map is the most visited part of the Friends of Mt Tabor Park website! As far as we know, this is the only project of its kind on the east side of the Willamette in a Portland Park.

We are very happy to have Lisa as a volunteer at Mt Tabor Park, and as a well-deserved Friend of the Year.