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Carson City launches memorials webpage and brochure to guide donations, tree plantings and bench requests
Summary
City staff unveiled a new Memorials web page, interactive map and brochure to accompany the memorials policy adopted in September 2022; the site centralizes applications, lists approved tree species and shows existing memorial locations such as Mills Park’s ALS Grove.
Marina Lovejoy, senior natural resource specialist, and Erin Larson, volunteer coordinator, presented a new Memorials web page and accompanying brochure that consolidate guidance for donations of trees, benches, plaques and volunteer adoption signs across city parks, trails and open space.
The nut graf: the new site is intended as a one‑stop resource for people who want to donate a memorial amenity; it links to the adopted memorials policy, the fillable application and an interactive map that shows existing memorial trees and benches, and it includes estimated cost ranges and tree species lists.
Erin Larson demonstrated the site navigation from the Parks and Recreation home page (carson.org/parksandrec), showing the brochure, the policy PDF and the fillable application. The page includes an image carousel and an on‑page quick navigation tool. The site lists estimated pricing for donated park amenities (bench, plaque, shade structure) as a general reference, but staff said costs are subject to change depending on item selection and market prices.
Marina Lovejoy showed the ArcGIS StoryMap interactive map embedded in the web page. The map displays city parks and open spaces and individual memorial points. As an example, Lovejoy clicked on a bench at Lakeview and a Brandywine maple in the Mills Park ALS Grove; the map entries include donation year and inscription text when available. Staff said more than 30 memorial trees are recorded citywide (many in Mills Park’s ALS Grove) and fewer than 10 memorial benches are currently cataloged; some memorial trees predate the formal 2022 policy.
The Memorials program includes a volunteer adoption option: groups can adopt a trail or park and receive signage if they commit to at least two volunteer events per year. Staff also noted two donation channels: donors may pay directly to the city or through the Foundation for Parks and Recreation.
Questions from commissioners covered tree species selection and whether the listed trees include native species; staff said the list was drawn from an approved municipal tree list used for irrigated ornamental plantings and that they would follow up with parks project staff to clarify species choices and any future urban‑forest planning. The presenters said planting decisions for Mills Park memorials will be coordinated with the Mills Park master‑plan implementation project to avoid replanting and later relocation.
Ending: Staff said they will print brochures and distribute them to city facilities and community partners, and they invited feedback on the site. The web page and brochure are intended to make the memorial process easier to navigate and to document existing memorials for the public.
