W. D. Thomson Park Restoration Project
In March of 1952, William D. Thomson, former Dean of Emory Law School and general counsel for the university, gifted a tract of 28.6 acres to DeKalb County “to be held in use perpetually as a park”. In 2012 the Friends of Thomson Park volunteer group was established as an affiliate of Park Pride and the volunteers have been hard at work since then removing invasives from all areas of the park, establishing and maintaining trails, and engaging in general upkeep of park amenities.
After a number of years it became apparent that the only way to make long-lasting progress in any given area of the park would be to set aside a small area focused on rehabilitation and dedicated to established restoration techniques. A heavily damaged two acre section was selected and in 2019 the proposal to designate it as a restoration site was approved by both DeKalb County and GNPS.
The site spans two types of terrain: an open riparian meadow, and a hilly forested area. It took several years to fully clear the meadow section, partially clear the wooded section, and prep the soil. To date, many hundreds of plants comprising almost 70 different species of natives have been planted and most are doing well.
Friends of Thomson Park volunteers meet once a month year-round, and also in smaller groups for various tasks in between our official workdays. Come on out and visit; it’s a nice little gem of a park.
Driving Directions To Restoration Project
You can view a Google Map for this project here.
News & Events
Thomson Park Update and Workday Schedule for 2024
The Friends of Thomson Park are still going strong, logging 117 volunteer hours so far (as of mid-March) in 2024. DeKalb County just recently completed a major project in the park, and we are looking forward to a vital stream repair and restoration project in...
Weed Wrangle Georgia 2024 on January 15
GNPS will host our first ever statewide "Weed Wrangle" on January 15th, MLK Jr. Day of Service. Weed Wrangle is a one-day, area-wide, volunteer effort to help rescue our public parks and green spaces from non-native invasive species through hands-on removal of...