Conservation of the Old Forest began in 1901, when Overton Park was created when the 342 acres (1.38 km2) Lea Woods was purchased by the City of Memphis.

Rare wild plants, vines, grasses and flowers spring up in bewildering luxuriance and infinite variety to attract the scientist and lover of nature and where children can roam next to Mother Earth and her own immediate handiwork as in the days of our first parents.

[5] Heineke's management recommendation was removal of evergreen exotic species, such as Chinese privet and Japanese honeysuckle, which are severely competing with native vegetation.

A grassroots organization, the Citizens to Preserve Overton Park, rallied to protect the forest.

In Citizens to Preserve Overton Park v. Volpe the U.S. Supreme Court finally saved the Old Forest from highway construction plans in 1971.