Oxygen Park in southwest Medford is more than just a lush oasis fed by Elk Creek and home to turtles, deer and the cheerful chirps of birds that roost in the marsh grasses.

The brainchild of Medford residents Buzz Thielmann and his wife, Shari, the park is a model for a new nonprofit that hopes to attract corporations wanting to burnish their green credentials.

“It is the first in the nation,” said Thielmann, an author and past owner of RHT Energy, a Medford company that pioneered alternative energy systems in the region. “It’s a way for corporations to sequester carbon and produce oxygen. This is a model for what could be accomplished in other communities.”

He estimates the 5.8-acre park, located at the corner of Lozier Lane and Arlington Drive and filled with cottonwoods and willows, generates 48 metric tons of oxygen a year.

One local corporation has already expressed interest in sponsoring a similar type of park, Thielmann said, withholding the name while he continues talks with the company.

The park, bisected by busy Lozier Lane, is an idea that has been percolating for many years.

Originally, Thielmann thought of buying more than 50 acres in a wooded area outside Medford. Unfortunately, the property he considered was severely burned in a fire.

A few years ago, a developer, who had no interest in retaining the Lozier Lane marshland, sold the property to the Thielmanns.

In the meantime, the

name “Oxygen Park” was trademarked this year and Thielmann founded the nonprofit with the park’s namesake.

For more information about the venture, go to https://oxygenpark.online/.

The mission of Oxygen Park is to secure land in perpetuity to produce oxygen and sequester carbon.

While he worked on the details of establishing a nonprofit, Thielmann removed 6 cubic yards of debris, including tents, mattresses, a sofa and garbage from Oxygen Park. He found an abandoned fire pit inside the park, which is mostly inaccessible because of thick grasses and marshy areas. Thielmann said wetlands help provide a natural firebreak.

After founding his new company, Thielmann erected signs on both sides of Lozier Lane letting local residents who walk or drive by know that they are going through Oxygen Park.

“I wanted to put it where people could see it,” Thielmann said.

The park has already drawn the attention of nearby residents.

Deanna Rife, whose backyard overlooks the park, said she was living on another property in a more rural part of Medford and had a tough time downsizing to a more suburban property about four years ago.

“The lack of backyards and the lack of privacy left me in despair,” Rife said.

She finally moved into her current house about four years ago.

The house offers the kind of privacy she’d been looking for.

“It’s a great place to live and garden,” she said. “I have a giant tree and thought about a tree house to look out over the park.”

Rife said she and other neighbors have an informal neighborhood watch to make sure no one tries to camp or dump trash in Oxygen Park.

Jill Hunter, who was house hunting in the area last December, sent Thielmann an email extolling Oxygen Park.

She said having open space is an important part of her decision-making process in buying a house.

“I went looking at a house for sale on Elaine Street in that neighborhood and noticed the beautiful natural area behind the house, between the houses and Lozier Lane,” Hunter said.

She said a neighbor mentioned that the owner planned to keep the park natural.

Carol Clarke, who lives nearby, sent Thielmann a letter on June 13 thanking him for the park.

“All the time I drive through the park, it is so cool and refreshing on a hot summer day and a stark beauty in the winter,” Clarke wrote. “So few places left with a shady greenway like this.”

For Thielmann, the park gives him a jolt of energy during his frequent visits while he takes samples to gauge how moist the soil in the park is at various places, using equipment in the back of his pickup. He’s also on the lookout for trash or anything else that would detract from the natural beauty.

When the weather gets hot, Thielmann said he enjoys stepping about 20 feet off the sidewalk into the dense, cool wetland.

“Just stay in here and you can feel the health,” he said.