Department Of Natural Resources Launches Outdoors Beyond Barriers

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources, which manages 65 parks across Georgia and sees almost 14 million visitors a year, recently launched a program designed to give people with mobility problems better park access.

The Outdoors Beyond Barriers program was launched by DNR Commissioner Walter Rabon, who was promoted last August to the top spot after almost 30 years with the department.

Rabon spoke to the Rome Rotary Club Thursday afternoon, explaining the program and much of what his 1,700 employees do across Georgia.

The program provides options for people with mobility issues to fully enjoy the parks, including all-terrain wheelchairs and other facilities for the mobility challenged.

“We’ve partnered with the Aimee Copeland Foundation and their All Terrain Georgia program to provide all-terrain wheelchairs at 10 state parks and historic sites,” Rabon said. “We want everyone to be able to enjoy our parks.”

The program also provides access to fishing and hunting at parks across Georgia. More information is available at the DNR website: GaDNRr.org .

Rabon spent more than 20 years as a conservation ranger, now known as a game warden, starting in 1993 in McRae.

The DNR has five divisions: Coastal Resources, Environmental Protection, Law Enforcement, Parks and Historic Sites and Wildlife Resources.

“This is a very diverse mission that the DNR carries out,” Rabon said. “We’ve got over 500,000 acres of lakes, 16,000 miles of streams and seven golf courses. There are no slow times for us.”

The DNR is responsible for stocking fish ponds with trout and managing the populations of game animals, like quail and deer, but Rabon said less than 5% of animals in Georgia are game animals.

“I’ve had to learn about everything from gopher tortoises to right whales,” Rabon said.