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Environmental stewardship: Do, then tell
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Dean Piller, superintendent at Cordova Bay GC, believes the course’s bird project has boosted Cordova’s profile in the community. |
Editor’s note: Inside your Environment periodically presents information being featured or archived on The Environmental Institute for Golf Web site.
According to Ralph Waldo Emerson, a 19th-century American essayist, philosopher and poet, “Good thoughts are no better than good dreams, unless they be executed.”
While we’re being good stewards — at home, at work and in our communities — others may not be seeing us in the same light. How do we make that happen? Emerson provides us with an answer: Take
action.
With the case study, “Bird Habitat Enhancement Project at Cordova Bay Golf Course,” Dean Piller, Class A superintendent at Cordova Bay GC in Victoria, British Columbia, demonstrates the value of investing time by taking action for the environment and communicating those efforts.
“Of all the initiatives we have done at Cordova Bay, this bird enhancement project seems to be of most interest to the golfers, staff and general public,” writes Piller, a 20-year GCSAA member.
Piller uses the variety of landscapes at Cordova Bay that provide habitat for bird species as the foundation for his project. The staff members at Cordova Bay, a member of Audubon International and the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for golf courses, have a number of tools available to them for their environmental stewardship program and communications. Piller has developed and enhanced bird habitat by managing vegetation, providing bird feeders and enhancing aquatic habitat on the golf course. In addition, staff members have communicated their work to members, golfers and the community through newsletters and the development of a bird poster.
Piller is only one example of more than 600 superintendents within the ACSP who have taken action and communicated their efforts through the program. Dean Baker, Class A superintendent at Kinston (N.C.) Country Club, which also has been certified through the ACSP, writes, “Ultimately, the proactive approach taken by Kinston Country Club helped to change local public opinion of the golf course. A little extra work helped bring North Carolina State University to the club and added some legitimacy to the club’s claim that they were not ‘polluting,’ but actually helping to improve water quality.”
Baker provides more information about the value of joining the ACSP and communicating environmental stewardship practices in his case study, “Nitrate Studies for Water Quality at Kinston Country Club.”
Another renowned American author, Mark Twain, recognized the value of taking action when he wrote, “There are basically two types of people: people who accomplish things, and people who claim to have accomplished things. The first group is less crowded.”
As environmental stewards, you have invested your time into accomplishing great things. It’s time to talk about it.
At the 2008 Golf Industry Show in Orlando, Environmental Turf Inc. was named the Turf & Ornamental Company of the Year at the 2007 BoardRoom “Excellence in Achievement” awards. The master of ceremonies, The Golf Channel’s Jim Kelley, presented the award to Environmental Turf’s president, Stacie Zinn. BoardRoom magazine, the official publication of the Association of Private Clubs & Directors, selected Environmental Turf for overall excellence in its field, innovation, vision for future growth and continued impact on private club operations. Environmental Turf markets SeaDwarf seashore paspalum, a warm-season turfgrass that’s recognized as environmentally friendly and salt-tolerant. It also is said to require up to 75 percent less nitrogen for fertilization than bermudagrass and up to half of the water for irrigation. |
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