Waterfowl Management Plan

About the Program

Category: Parks and Recreation (Best in Category)

Year: 2013

When it comes to parks, if you build it, they will come. Kids will show up to play ball on their field of dreams, while ducks, geese and even swans will appear if your park has a lake. But parks designed for human enjoyment can upset the natural order, causing some species to thrive while others leave for more hospitable habitat.Gwinnett County (GA) has encountered this problem while building forty six national award-winning parks in 25 years. So now, Dr. Mark Patterson of our Parks and Recreation division has developed a Waterfowl Management Program to create a sustainable ecological balance and improve biodiversity within the 9,282 acres of parks and greenspace under County control. We are the first county in Georgia to develop such a plan and are among only a handful nationwide.Benefits of the program include cleaner, safer parks, better water quality, improved public awareness, and an overall reduction in invasive, non-native plants and animals. The ultimate result will be parks that enable humans to enjoy and understand the delicate balance of nature.