Designated Natural Areas
The City of Stillwater Department of Parks and Recreation (PER) announced it has established “Designated Natural Areas” within selected city parks.
According to PER Director John McClenny, “What we mean by ‘designated natural areas’ is that we are allowing pre-selected, low-usage areas to re-establish its native grasses and flowers and that ground crews will refrain from mowing in these areas.”
PER staff has initially identified “Designated Natural Areas,” within the following parks: Babcock, Boomer, Couch, Whittenberg, Hoyt Grove and Sanborn.
“My staff is really excited about this for a number of reasons. For example it will provide island of refuge for wildlife, reduce dust and improve ground cover to absorb rainwater better,” he said.
With Stillwater undergoing so much construction, McClenny pointed out that his staff can really see how wildlife has less area to live. “This is something we can do to improve the situation for a number of species, especially the ground-nesting birds.”
He has also been working with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, which supports the concept to improve wildlife habitats around the dams in various city parks. “The more we studied about establishing natural areas, the more benefits we found.”
The PER staff is also planning to seed for wildflower plots, which is something they have been wanting do on a wider scale than in the past
“As a park operation, we want to be ‘green’ as possible and by allowing native grasses to re-establish themselves by scaling back our mowing, we will reduce energy usages and reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Another benefit is that we can redirect staff to improve high-usage areas, which will benefit more residents more.”
For more information about the “Designated Natural Areas,” visit the PER Department web page at stillwater.org or contact McClenny at (405) 747-8070.