DeWitt Recreation Area was used as a sand and gravel quarry before 1978, then in 1993 B.R. DeWitt Inc. donated the land to Genesee County for family recreation. As the park was created, restoration projects began to rebuild natural habitats and provide recreation and environmental education for the community. More than 25 local volunteer organizations, community organizations, and private companies contributed to its development and restoration, with the lake perimeter graded by the Naval Sea Bees and Hansen and planting projects completed with help from AmeriCorps volunteers, ACORNS, and grants from FLOWPA and the NRCS. Native trees, shrubs, warm season grasses, and wildflowers were planted to restore the land to its pre-quarry condition, reduce soil erosion, and provide food, shelter, and nesting sites for wildlife. As plant diversity increased, the park became home to a wider variety of animals, including waterfowl using the clear, quiet lake as a resting place during migration, heron and turtles feeding on abundant fish, lakeshore species such as crustaceans, amphibians, muskrats, and beavers living among cattails, reeds, and willow saplings, small mammals sheltering in meadows, and songbirds, deer, foxes, squirrels, and skunks inhabiting the uplands. Although the park’s man-made landform still reveals its quarry past, it has become a place of natural beauty and recreation through sustained community support and continued care for the land, water, and air.