Cemetery and Urban Forestry Commission

The Lewiston Cemetery and Urban Forestry Commission was created to assist in advising staff on cemetery-related functions as well as educating the public and enhancing our urban tree canopy in Lewiston. The Commission is a seven-member volunteer group that works on behalf of the Lewiston City Council to implement the department’s mission to provide a comprehensive program of high-quality parks, facilities, and activities for a broad range of ages, interests, and abilities. 

For more information on applicable regulations managed by the commission, see Lewiston City Code Chapter 26, Article IV, Section 26-42.

The Cemetery and Urban Forestry Commission shall have the following powers and duties:

  • Support and build awareness regarding the city of Lewiston’s urban forestry goals.
  • Advise and make recommendations to the parks and recreation department and the city council on issues related to urban forestry and the Normal Hill Cemetery and Arboretum. 
  • Serve as a sounding board for major projects or initiatives related to urban forestry or the Normal Hill Cemetery and Arboretum and make recommendations to the parks and recreation department and the city council on such projects or initiatives. 
  • Advise and make recommendations to the parks and recreation department and the city council on the preservation and management of the city of Lewiston’s urban tree canopy. 
  • Promote public interest and development of the Normal Hill Cemetery and Arboretum and the city of Lewiston’s urban tree canopy. 
  • Advocate for and assist the city of Lewiston’s urban forestry and Normal Hill Cemetery and Arboretum staff in achieving their work-related goals. 
  • Assist the city of Lewiston’s urban forestry staff in their efforts to involve and inform the citizens of the city of Lewiston on urban forestry issues through public education. 

Meetings

  • Fourth Wednesday of each month at 5:30 p.m., at the Lewiston Community Center, 1424 Main Street, Lewiston, Idaho 83501.
  • Agendas are available prior to the meetings, and minutes from each meeting are available following approval by the Lewiston City Council. View most recent agendas and minutes. 

Bylaws 

View the most recent Cemetery and Urban Forestry Commission Bylaws (PDF). 

Members

Shirley Phillips

Shirley Phillips, Chair

My grandparents came to Lewiston in 1925 and bought a farm in the Orchards. My mother graduated from LHS, class of 1931. After she married, she and my father moved to California. Lewiston was a place we visited growing up so was an easy decision to move here when my husband and I retired in 2006. We purchased our “new” home, built in 1910, in Normal Hill.

I am honored to have served on the Commission since 2013. My initial interest was the historic Normal Hill Cemetery, one of Lewiston’s 23 City parks. I am proud of the work that we have done and excited to work toward the implementation of the Norman Hill Cemetery’s Master Plan. I quickly learned the importance of the City’s rich urban forest resulting in the designation as a “Tree City USA.”

Elizabeth Goetzinger

Elizabeth Goetzinger

Born in Lewiston and raised in Tammany on Miller Road. Graduated from LHS and Lewis Clark State College. Teacher for the Lewiston School District. Married with 2 daughters, 5 grandchildren, and 1 great grandchild. I keep busy participating in Craft Shows, camping in the RV, traveling the world, enjoying our grandchildren, and having fun with my husband in our retirement. Member of Retired Educators of Idaho (REA-I), Retired Educators of North Central Idaho (RENCI), ADK, and volunteer at the Nez Perce County Fair. Joined the commission to help make our Cemetery and Urban Forest: a healthier environment for the people of Lewiston as a designation “Tree City USA”; helped to secure the land south of the cemetery; clean up Normal Hill Cemetery making it a park to be enjoyed, and continue working on Normal Hill Cemetery’s Master Plan.

Maxine Miller

Maxine Miller

Maxine has been an active member since 1989, then the Lewiston Street Tree Committee, officially became the Urban Forestry Advisory Commission in 1990.  Then, Mayor Delitha Kilgore and Council granted commission status allowing Mike Bowman to be hired as our first Urban Forester. 

I have been an active commission member for the past 30 + years with the mission of promoting the planting and maintaining of healthy trees in our Valley.  My goal is to help educate our Valley citizens about the importance of planting shade trees in parking lots, along streets, at schools and businesses. Remember - "Trees are the lungs of the earth".

Brian Hensley

Brian Hensley

I am an Idaho native and was born here in Lewiston and graduated from LHS in 1967. I attended and graduated from the University of Idaho in 1971 and started working seasonally that year for the Clearwater National Forest. I spent the bulk of my career working in forestry and retired in 2007 from the Clearwater NF. In between I was fortunate to have worked all over western Montana on the Flathead, Beaverhead, and Helena National Forests before returning to the Clearwater. I moved back to Lewiston from Orofino in 1991 with my wife Donna who had just completed a two year stint with the Peace Corps in Belize, Central America. Lewiston offered better job opportunities for my wife and I was able to commute to Orofino weekly during the field season and daily to the office during the winter until I retired.

I am an avid golfer (LHS golf team 1965-67), walker, rafter, and photographer. I have a daughter Sarah who lives here in Lewiston and a daughter Candice who lives in Diamond Bar, California with her husband John. Lewiston for me is a good fit with its great weather and accessibility to some of the best scenery in the world. 

John Fisher

John Fisher

After 3 years as a Bomb Disposal Technician in the Army, I spent the equivalent of 8 years in various colleges and universities studying Ecology and the Natural Sciences with minors in Spanish and Art. I moved to Idaho to teach sciences in 1968, summers I spent as a whitewater guide and later traveled Asia and Latin America in formal and informal environmental and cultural studies. I taught all the sciences but physics for 34 years at Lewiston High School retiring in 2002. About 1999 I begin a new career as a scholar and author of the Euro-American material culture of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, specializing in medicine of 1800.

I built a couple of houses up river at the mouth of Colter's (Potlatch) Creek and re-established a natural environment on a formerly farmed hillside. In 2020, I moved from that 13-acre "estate" to a small house on Normal Hill. Back in Lewiston after 35 years, I took on a project of trying to rehabilitate the 19-acre Modie Park. It was intended as a wildlife reserve, but was filled with untended exotic and invasive plants. My goal as a member of this commission is to focus attention towards good tree selection and care throughout the City of Lewiston.

Council Liaison

Email John Spickelmire

Staff Liaison 

Tim Barker, Parks and Recreation Director | Email: tbarker@cityoflewiston.org | Phone: (208) 746-2313

Related Documents 

Legacy Tree Program (PDF)
City of Lewiston Tree Selection Guide (PDF)
Normal Hill Cemetery Master Plan - This is a large document and may take a few minutes to load. (PDF)


If you need assistance finding the most current agendas/minutes or have questions related to the commission, please contact Parks and Recreation Director, Tim Barker at tbarker@cityoflewiston.org or (208) 746-2313.