Stewardship News | Volume 10, Issue 6 | Late Fall 2007

Stewardship News A P U B L I C AT I O N O F A U D U B O N I N T E R N AT I O N A L

Volume 10, Issue 6 • November–December 2007

The Greenest New Church in America

BY NANCY RICHARDSON, AUDUBON INTERNATIONAL

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t. Mark Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach, California, may be the “Greenest New Church” in America. Given the fact that it is located in Southern California, this perhaps should come as no surprise.

Positive environmental actions are as common to Southern Californian’s as is surfing. What may be more of a surprise is that St. Mark Presbyterian is the first church to have registered in the Audubon International Signature Program!

The St. Mark Presbyterian congregation, by its own

“Our church is interested in… stewardship of the earth.

Theologically, it’s a central theme for us. We want to determine how we can make the least impact on the earth.”

admission, is a group of free-thinkers, and perhaps ahead of its time in its approach to environmental preservation. In June 2005, the congregation began to further strengthen their environmental stance by planning the development of a new educational – Pastor Gary Collins and spiritual complex with a goal of becoming certified in the Audubon has been planning and working on International Signature Program. this “green” sanctuary for several Not only would this new complex years. Located on a 10.81-acre site in showcase the latest environmentally Newport Beach, CA, site clearing friendly materials, the entire project began early in 2006 in two phases. would also provide an opportunity Plans called for a new church sancto merge the congregation’s spiritual tuary, fellowship hall, administration beliefs with positive environmental building and counseling center, actions. The members of St. Mark preschool buildings, an expansion take their stewardship of the building, a nature center plaza, in environment seriously, and led by addition to parking lots, driveways, Reverend Gary Collins, they are site lighting, and landscaping. very proud of the spiritual connection Because buildings are one of the they have created between land, buildmajor direct and indirect contributors ing, congregation, and community. to many environmental problems the Slated to open the new church church followed both Audubon in November 2007, International’s green buildSt. Mark ing requirements and guidelines of the LEED™ program.

Building and landscape

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Dear Members and Supporters, What does a Freemason, an Ecophilian, an elementary school teacher, and the President of the Professional Association of Innkeepers International all have in common? I know, it sounds like a good punch line is coming, but it’s not a joke. They are all examples of the types of people and organizations Audubon International is working with to foster a more wide-spread environmental attitudes and actions. We are launching our Environmental Stewardship and Management Initiative, because of and in partnership with these people— from all walks of life. We simply need to find a better way to reach out to homeowners, church-goers, business owners, and groups and associations of all types to make environmental stewardship the norm. These pages of Stewardship News reflect that goal.

In this issue, we see a host of individuals lending a hand, playing a role, giving advice, and celebrating what it means to be a steward of the environment—caring now and for future generations. It is exciting to me to see the world of possibilities—for our organization, the people we are and will be working with, and society as a whole. There’s a lot of “buzz” right now about the environment. The trick is to ensure the buzz doesn’t turn into a murmur, or a whisper. We will continue to do all we can to see that it doesn’t—through education, programs, partnerships, and of course…people.

Best,

46 Rarick Road Selkirk, New York 12158 (518) 767-9051 www.auduboninternational.org You can reach our staff via e-mail by typing the person’s first initial, full last name @ auduboninternational.org.

ADMINISTRATION

Ronald Dodson, President Kevin Fletcher, PhD, Executive Director Howard Jack, Vice President Mary Jack, Executive Assistant to the President Paula Realbuto, Executive Assistant for Operations AUDUBON COOPERATIVE SANCTUARY PROGRAMS

Kevin A. Fletcher, Ph.D. Executive Director

Jennifer Batza, Membership Coordinator Jim Sluiter, Staff Ecologist Joellen Zeh, Program Manager AUDUBON SIGNATURE PROGRAM

In this issue…

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Eco-Design & Development: The Greenest New Church in America—highlights of the new St. Mark Presbyterian Church green educational and spiritual complex.

Environmental Stewardship & Management: Koala-ty Refurbished at Bay Meado Elementary, Orlando, FL—Parents, teachers, and Walt Disney World join forces to refurbish a learning garden; Improve Your Environmental Performance with Culture—Improving you Environmental Performance; en·vi·ron·men·tal stew·ard·ship—A look at the meaning and commonality; Barriers to Environmental Change—A look at what prevents small businesses from improving environmentally.

Golf & the Environment: Planting the Seed at Peel Village Golf Course—Volunteers use pit-and-mound techniques to plant native tree seedlings.

10 On the Road… for Stewardship: Riverside, California—

President Ron Dodson recounts the life of a fellow conservationist while presenting at a turfgrass water conservation symposium.

11 Membership News: Welcome to our newest members and

congratulations to our recently certified sanctuaries.

Nancy Richardson, Director Linda Snow, Administrative Assistant NEW YORK OPERATIONS

Fred Realbuto, Director EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

Joshua Conway, Manager of Education and Communications SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES PROGRAM

Peter Bronski, Manager

AUDUBON ENVIRONMENTAL

P.O. Box 1226 Cary, NC 27512 (919) 380-9640 Bud Smart, PhD, President bsmart@audubonservices.com GREEN LEAF ENVIRONMENTAL

1280 Old Innes Road, Suite 801 Ottawa, ON K2B5W7 (613) 842-0333 Kevin Gallagher, President Kevin@greenleafenvironmental.org

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New Addition to Audubon International Staff

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e are pleased to welcome Jim Sluiter as Staff Ecologist for the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program. In this role he will provide environmental planning assistance and project recommendations to Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program members and various industry and environmental working groups. He received his degree in Recreation & Leisure Studies from the State University of New York College at Cortland. Prior to joining Audubon International, Jim spent the last year and a half managing a 6,000 acre residential camping, environmental education, and conference center.

Jim has also previously served seven years educating visitors within national parks throughout the United States.

Feel free to welcome Jim by contacting him at (518) 767-9051 extension 16, or by email at jsluiter@auduboninternational.org.

Oops! Our New Handbook is Not for Golf

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n the previous issue, we announced the new ACSP Certification Handbook for Golf Courses. We do not have a new Certification Handbook for Golf Courses. Rather, we have developed a new Certification Handbook for Non-Golf ACSP members. The comprehensive handbook provides an improved framework for guiding environmental management efforts and completing certification. Ed Brandt, Sector-Lead, Environmental Stewardship Branch, Office of Pesticide Programs, of the EPA has touted the new Certification Handbook as “a real environmental management program [that] is very comprehensive with respect to water, energy, habitat, training, etc.”

We apologize for any confusion or inconvenience. If members have any questions about their certification status, or completing certification request forms, they may contact Joellen Zeh, Program Manager, at 518-767-9051, extension 14, or email: jzeh@auduboninternational.org.

Take the Treasuring Home Pledge!

Valuing and caring for the natural resources and unique landscapes in the places we call home is critical to creating a healthier and more sustainable environment for the future…and it all starts in our own backyard. Audubon International’s guide to environmental stewardship for homeowners, Treasuring Home, includes simple indoor and outdoor actions, as well as steps for extending environmental stewardship efforts from households to neighborhoods and communities. Make a commitment to get involved where you live by taking the Treasuring Home Pledge included in the guide. If you would like to obtain a copy of the guide, or purchase multiple copies for distribution, contact Audubon International at (518) 767-9051, extension 13, or email jconway@auduboninternational.org.

The guide is complimentary to donors to Audubon International’s Earth Fund. Homeowners are also welcome to view the guide and take the pledge online at www.auduboninternational.org/homepledge.

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The Greenest New Church in America Continued from page 1

Aerial view of the educational and spiritual complex set to open in November 2007.

The site includes 10.81 acres within the city of Newport Beach, CA, and will serve as a community center.

architects were selected based on experience and understanding of church needs as well as current criteria of environmental stewardship.

Located at the head of a watershed that drains into the Back Bay of Newport Bay, Audubon International was instrumental in giving advice and guidance to the planning committee of the church and their environmental group known as the Ecophilians.

Because water conservation and reduced water use were considered a high-criteria goal, the selection of the irrigation system (a primarily porous tubing distribution system) and an irrigation controller were chosen to ensure there would be efficient irrigation water use and no water runoff from the irrigated areas.

On-site coastal sage scrub, native plants which require little irrigation, have been saved and expanded with additional planting. Such a habitat also will support small animals and bird

life, both in number and diversity of species. Existing, but limited, sycamore and elderberry have been saved during the construction process. Selected Mediterranean species with low water requirements have also been used for aesthetic or functional reasons in appropriate locations. “Water capture” islands in the auto parking area are designed to remove oil from the parking area and prevent its discharge off-site. The perimeter of the site will be planted with pines, Indian hawthorn, and tall fescue turf grass, in accordance with local ordinances so that the church will fit aesthetically into the surrounding community.

A number of other considerations were involved in the site location and design for future needs of the church. One example includes the nearby Newport Beach Transportation Center, located across the street to allow easy access to the church.

The Center provides the opportunity to bus transportation to the site if desired. Sidewalks are also available from all directions, with pedestrian crosswalks to the church entrance.

Site design has provided for a bicycle rack and storage area and for an auto recharging station, if appropriate, in the near future. And lastly, upkeep of the environmentally-friendly campus will continue with the internal efforts of church members and the on-going relationship with Audubon International.

Although St. Mark Presbyterian Church has applied to be the very first Audubon International Certified Signature Program church in America, we hope it will not be the last, because of our collective need to be good stewards. ●

The mission of the Ecophilians is to educate, motivate, and provide action opportunities for the St. Mark congregation and, in turn, the wider community, in support of environmental sustainability in the context of their Christian values.

Some of the positive environmental actions taken

by St. Mark Presbyterian Church include: Site Actions

• Planting of 530 trees • Extensive use of drought resistant native plants for greatly reduced water use • Maintenance and replanting of coastal sage gnat catcher habitat • Reduced peak water runoff from the existing conditions • Bio-swale filtration of runoff for protection of downstream flow • Use of state of state-of-the-art filtration technology and three retention ponds • Protection of the on-site canyon in its natural state • Retain 62% of open space • Buildings designed for a very low floor area ratio of buildings to land • Lowered site and perimeter trees offers low visibility of parking areas • Public access to environmental stewardship education information • Retain wildlife corridor • Environmental certification process undertaken with Audubon International.

Building Actions

• Limited use of air conditioning because of moderate coastal climate • Adoption of LEED™ credits in the use of local and regional manufactured materials, and use of daylight (energy conservation) and views in 90% of building space • Use of E-glass for energy efficiency • Finished concrete surfaces to reduce carpet use and replacement needs • Use of interlocking pavers in gathering areas for water drainage • Use of waterless urinals in men’s restrooms • All windows can be opened for natural ventilation • Use of “instant heat” (tankless) water heaters • Use of veranda trellises for shade • Mahogany chosen for all pews obtained from a regenerating tree farm and not from native stands

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Koala-ty Refurbished at Bay Meadow Elementary, Orlando, FL

BY JENNIFER BATZA, AUDUBON INTERNATIONAL

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bout 10 years ago parents, teachers, and community members of the Bay Meadows Elementary joined together in the realization of a dream. Their dream was to provide an interactive, living outdoor classroom for students and teachers, named the Koala-ty Interactive Children’s Garden. Businesses including Walt Disney Co., Rinker Materials Corp., landscape architects, Canin Associates, and many parents and friends worked diligently to amass over $20,000 in cash and service donations for the creation of this garden.

The garden encompasses one-third of an acre and is composed of four

mini-gardens: an arboretum, a Storybook Garden with an amazing maze, a Hummingbird and Butterfly Garden, and an American garden.

The garden has been designed as a teaching tool to enhance math, science, social science, and language arts. Unfortunately, a year-long renovation project at Bay Meadow Elementary prevented students and teachers from utilizing the space and the garden languished amidst the construction. Upon returning to the school, parents, teachers, and students weeded, mulched, and cleaned up the garden. Audubon International partner, Walt Disney World, assisted with the refurbishment of the garden

Students from Bay Meadow Elementary, Orlando, FL work hard to refurbish their outdoor classroom in preparation for 500 annuals supplied by Walt Disney World.

by donating over 500 annuals for the students to plant to encourage the butterflies and hummingbirds to return. Goals for this year include: increasing the size of the garden to over half an acre; restoring power to continued on page 10

Improve Your Environmental Performance with Culture To improve environmental performance in your organization, begin by becoming an environmental champion and foster employee buy-in and involvement. Your goal is to create an environmental culture within your organization, making environmental stewardship “the way people do things.” Start by reviewing eight common failures for environmental organizational change (adapted from John Kotter, Leading Change, Harvard Business School Press, 1996) and make a plan to ensure your success: 1. Failing to Create a Sense of Urgency: Moving people, and entire organizations, in a new direction can be like moving an iceberg. Create a sense of urgency. Environmental stewardship has to be viewed as a critical part of your long-term success, and a critical part of each person’s job.

2. Not Creating a Guiding Coalition (Team): Build a “resource advisory group” or “green team,” selecting people from all levels and departments. Be aware of who has an ability to help you motivate staff and coordinate operations. Who has knowledge and technical skills to help solve environmental problems? Who has the authority and respect to help you mobilize people to take action?

3. Underestimating the Power of a Vision: People want to feel as if they are a part of something bigger than themselves.

Create a vision to inspire people. Find the connections between the day-to-day actions and the effect that those actions can have on our natural environment.

4. Under-communicating the Vision: Once you’ve developed a “vision message” relay it to staff. Use posters, regular meetings, and perhaps even bonuses or other incentives to reinforce that vision and the role that each individual plays in achieving it.

5. Not Addressing Obstacles: Most environmental efforts fail in businesses because they are viewed as side issues—not core to financial health. Avoid this by tying all of your actions explicitly to business value. Environmental performance and business goals (e.g., revenue generation, cost avoidance, image and public relations) can, and often do, go hand-in-hand.

6. Failing to Create Short-term Wins: Keep yourself and your staff motivated. Publicize and celebrate those shorter-term successes. Then, set new goals to inspire continuous improvement and longer-term excellence.

7. Declaring Victory Too Soon: Don’t settle for limited results.

Remember that the long-term goal is to create an environmental culture in your organization. One or two recycling success stories do not lead to changed culture. Be patient and include a periodic process to review and update program goals.

8. Not Anchoring Changes in the Culture: Use projects and performance goals to change behavior, but use management systems, reward programs, and training programs to reinforce and embed that behavior in staff. As an environmental champion, part of your job to ensure success is managing the environmental culture that you’ve created.

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en·vi·ron·men·tal stew·ard·ship— The Conceptual Meaning of Greening B Y J O S H U A C O N W AY, A U D U B O N I N T E R N AT I O N A L

Definition: Long-term management aimed at preserving and enhancing the quality of an environment.

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nvironmental stewardship often has different meanings for homeowners, business owners, and community leaders. As a result each of these groups has implemented distinct and often unrelated efforts to produce positive, although seemingly minimal impacts on the environment. Environmental stewardship needs to have the same meaning if society stands a chance at reducing the global environmental impact. Certainly the tactics that a large corporation uses may not be applicable to individual homes, but the underlying reason is constant in all situations.

In essence, environmental stewardship means choosing sustainable options. It is way of life that requires a long-term commitment to make informed choices at home, the office, and in the community that are good for the environment, financially responsible, and beneficial to the overall quality of life. These choices in turn meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Contrary to human nature, environmental

stewardship must not be thought of at the individual level, but rather at the community level. Namely, that responsibility for environmental quality is shared by all whose actions affect the environment and not as the end result of a sole party.

Environmental stewardship, therefore, cannot be something that the government “does”—leading everyone to believe the issue is being handled.

Visible progress with major forms of pollution has certainly been made through governmental actions, but small diffuse sources of pollution from individuals challenge environmental efforts. One reason environmental efforts are not effective against individual pollution is the language that is used by government often softens policies and regulations. For example, the development of the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act may lead to an assumption that we have won the battle for clean are and water when, in fact, vehicle emissions and agricultural runoff remain two of our biggest environmental problems.

Environmental stewardship must be comprehensive and include the implementation of the plan. An environmental plan helps to formulate priorities into manageable pieces where individuals can make a difference. Stewardship must be a joint project of homeowners, business owners, and community leaders that is not a result of the trickle-down effect but rather a supported grass-roots

effort. It is this level of ownership that will make the environmental movement most effective. This idea has been echoed by Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephan L. Johnson in his Everyday Choices: Opportunities for Environmental Stewardship Report, “…we have exciting opportunities to create a more sustainable future in this country and with our partners around the world… [an opportunity which] requires active engagement of all people.” Our care should be on local efforts of which everyone could be a part, not just for example, on the rainforest half a world away.

Homeowners, business owners, and community leaders, therefore, need to form relationships with organizations with whom they normally would not. Creating new network connections will then expand their reach and influence on consumer conscience while identifying new environmental projects and ways to use their resources.

The choices of individuals, companies, and of community and government organizations are influenced by economic, environmental, social, and spiritual interests. As such, society needs to commit to an integrated definition for Environmental Stewardship and to establish clear priorities for action. If this attitude is adopted, the end would lead to a cleaner, safer, and more prosperous future for generations to come.

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Audubon International and Environmental Stewardship

Audubon International’s Environmental Stewardship and Management Programs

After 20 years of helping people help the environment, Audubon International is taking strides to improve the ways in which individuals and organizations manage land and use water, energy, and other resources. To that end Audubon International is proud to announce that the launch of an Environmental Stewardship and Management initiative (ESM). The way in which individuals and organizations manage land and use water, energy, and other resources have enormous consequences for our environment.

Individuals do, indeed, make a difference. The ESM initiative seeks to foster an ethic of environmental stewardship and help people improve the way they manage resources so that they make a positive difference in contributing to a more sustainable future. Under the ESM initiative, Audubon International will facilitate best practices, drive change, and offer new solutions to small businesses, parks and recreation departments, homeowners, and community service groups.

For more than four decades, most efforts to influence the greening of business in the U.S. and around the world have focused on big business.

Getting one golf course or one hotel to reduce water use or use eco-friendly cleaners may seem small. If all 15,000 golf courses or 40,000-plus hotels in the U.S. took this step, however, the collective impact would be staggering. “This new initiative is focused on identifying the barriers to change and the collective solutions for making environmental stewardship and management the norm, not the exception, in business, particularly small business,” says Kevin A. Fletcher, Ph.D., Executive Director of Audubon International. ●

The ACSP is an education and certification program that helps organizations and businesses protect our environment while enhancing their bottom line. The program offers information and guidance to help participants implement an environmental management plan that improves efficiency, conserves resources, and promotes conservation efforts. Audubon International awards certification to publicly recognize and reward the environmental achievements and leadership of ACSP members.

Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program (ACSP)—

Audubon Partners for the Environment (APE)—

The Audubon Partners for the Environment program engages people from all walks of life in protecting and enhancing the land, water, wildlife, and natural resources around them. Audubon Partners make a commitment to complete at least one environmental improvement project each year and report their results to Audubon International. Each completed project receives an award to recognize Audubon Partners for their efforts to foster environmental awareness and good stewardship. APE was designed for businesses interested in doing environmental projects, and schools and youth groups.

Audubon Green Leaf Eco-Rating Program—

Audubon Green Leaf Eco-Rating Program for Hotels helps all types of accommodation facilities reduce operating expenses and increase market share, while improving the environment. The education and eco-rating program is offered jointly by Audubon International and Green Leaf Environmental Communications, Inc. For more information please visit www.auduboninternational.org

Environmental Stewardship and Management Initiative Advisory Council: This group of leaders from nonprofits, government, academia, and business is being assembled to help Audubon International identify the best ways to educate and affect change in individuals and organizations in the promotion of an environmental ethic and systematic management of environmental issues. Tentatively, the following individuals and representative will make up this Advisory Council: • Byron Kennard, Executive Director, Center for Small Business and the Environment • Christopher Lynch, Director, Environmental Management Assistance Program, Pennsylvania Small Business Development Centers • Don Bradley, Ph.D., Executive Director, Small Business Advancement National Center • Susan Sasaki, PEER Center Manager, Sustainable Earth Initiative • Jay Karen, President and CEO, Professional Association of Innkeepers International • Chris Wisniewski, Senior Warden, 32nd Degree Free and Accepted Masons • Representatives from Parks and Recreations Associations, Cemetery Association, Interfaith Environmental Groups, Social and Community groups, EPA, and others to be named later.

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Small Business: Overcoming Barriers

BY KEVIN FLETCHER, AUDUBON INTERNATIONAL

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he stakes for environmental leadership at the small business level are huge when you consider the statistics. The number of small businesses has increased 49 percent since 1982.

Nearly 98 percent of all U.S. firms employ less than 500 people, with 90 percent having fewer than 20 workers. Yet these small businesses generate more than half of the private gross domestic product and nearly half of all sales activity. They also consume more than 50 percent of all commercial energy use.

There are, however, barriers central to addressing real change.

Many small business owners lack the time, the most precious of resources, because they need to focus on core business demands before taking on any non-critical action.

Research indicates that small businesses simply lack resources, which seems obvious but cannot be understated. For example, we recently assisted a golf course facility entering the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Environmental Performance Track program. We learned that the resources available for environmental excellence for this small business were stunningly different compared to a typical large-scale manufacturing facility. Resources, funds, and staff require small facilities like this golf course to act smarter and more effectively. Yet this small facility’s voluntary actions were real and significant, with habitat acreage added, water conserved, energy saved, and waste reduced on a scale proportionately greater than most multinationals.

Small business operators often identify the financial costs of taking action as a barrier for voluntary program participation although many

programs, such as the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program, target process and behavioral changes by management staff, not large investments in new technology or large-scale projects.

The costs of the voluntary programs themselves to cover expenses such as educational and technical service and site visits for entities managing such voluntary programs are also identified by small businesses as barriers to change.

Unlike larger firms and those U.S. industries heavily regulated since the 1970s, smaller businesses, specifically service-oriented firms, lack access and exposure to leading examples of environmental management by firms in their sectors. Likewise, training, structured programs, resources, and other tools for environmental education and change are few and far between for small businesses.

Given these and other barriers, what is needed to spark a broader participation in voluntary environmental program, and, more generally, a broader acceptance and practice of voluntary environmental leadership by small firms?

Research suggests that smaller firms are not motivated to take voluntary environmental actions solely in pursuit of profit or in seeking competitive advantage. Yet firms that do take voluntary environmental action are realizing the business value of these actions—in the form of reduced costs of operation, enhanced image and reputation that may differentiate them from the competition, and, in limited cases, increased revenue from a growth in customers or an ability to demand higher prices.

There are numerous voluntary environmental programs available to

Five years ago the Golf Advisory Council was created to help Audubon International make a greater impact in the golf sector. In the same way, the new Environmental Stewardship and Management Advisory Council strives help make environmental stewardship the norm, not the exception. Photo: Kevin Fletcher addresses the GAC at the Golf and the Environment Summit at Barona Creek Golf Club, Barona, CA, 2004.

help businesses—run by government, nonprofits, and industry alike. Across the board, however, the uptake and involvement in these programs by this sector roughly match the profile seen with most “greenness of the American” surveys, such as the Roper Starch surveys.

These surveys show a small minority of firms, between 5 percent and 15 percent, taking the lead while the vast majority of firms, large and small, is still riding on the waves of their “green-hearted” peers.

This may be helping to fuel the false argument that there is an acrossthe-board environmental epiphany happening in various business sectors, thus eroding any sense of urgency or opportunity for those business leaders on the cusp of taking voluntary action.

We will continue to look to answer some of the questions raised above, specifically through the development of an Environmental Stewardship and Management Advisory Council comprised of business, government, and nonprofit experts in the area of small business voluntary environmental stewardship.

Yet it is clear that we all need to work together to find a way to make environmental stewardship and sustainable resource management the norm, not the exception, with smaller firms. We simply need to find a better way to educate, assist, and inspire this critical part of our economy to act. ●

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Planting the Seed at Peel Village Golf Course B Y C H R I S R I C K E T T, T O R O N T O A N D R E G I O N C O N S E R VAT I O N , A N D F R A N K M E R R A N , PEEL VILLAGE GOLF COURSE

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uring the fall of 2006, volunteers from the Brampton Horticultural Society, Chinguacousy Garden Club and the Etobicoke-Mimico Watersheds Coalition, scoured a woodlot at the Peel Village Golf Course and collected native tree seeds for planting.

Numerous species of seeds were collected, including shagbark, downie, butternut and bitternut hickory, bur and red oak, along with sugar maple and basswood, and were planted in a one-acre forest restoration area on the golf course.

The partnership between the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) and Peel Village Golf Course is part of a broader plan that includes a forest restoration project to restore habitat opportunities along the Etobicoke Creek at the golf course and in the City of Brampton, Ontario. Unlike most restoration projects that plant saplings, this particular site utilized tree seeds and

re-created the natural pit-and-mound micro-topography of a mature forest.

Pit-and-mound typically results from trees falling creating pits where their roots once sat and mound where their bio-mass breaks down. This was simulated by gouging out small pits with an excavator and leaving adjacent mounds. With a microhabitat created that could support vernal pooling and a diverse number of species, volunteers planted the seeds they collected in the pits-and-mounds.

Fast-forward to the summer of 2007 and the restoration area has seen a number of tree seedlings burst forth. Oaks, which have had a hard time reproducing in the area, have been the most successful with each pit-and-mound having on average three or four red or bur oak seedlings. Two black walnuts were also found, along with some sugar maples, but none of the hickory seeds were successful.

While planting from seedling

Unlike most restoration projects, volunteers from Brampton Horticultural Society, Chinguacousy Garden Club, and the Etobicoke-Mimco Watersheds Coalition collected and sorted seeds by tree species from the Peel Village Golf Course.

Pit-and-mound techniques were used to simulate the natural micro-topography associated with many of the tree species identified at Peel Village Golf Course.

means taking a longer view of restoration, direct seeding is often much more droughttolerant than planted saplings, as their taproots will immediately grow down from the germinating seed. To augment habitat opportunities and provide some additional natural cover, in the spring of 2007 volunteers complemented the sprouting seeds by surrounding the pit-and-mound areas with bare-root native tree and shrub saplings.

During this spring planting event, volunteers also helped develop a butterfly meadow on the course. A half-acre plot was filled with black-eyed susans, wild bergamot, butterfly milkweed, wild strawberry, hairy mountain mint and a number of different asters.

The site has been so successful that within a few short months, the new butterfly area was teaming with butterflies and insects, with some of the asters already measuring three feet high! continued on page 10

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Koala-ty Refurbished at Bay Meadow Elementary

Riverside, California

BY RONALD DODSON,

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PRESIDENT

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teve Cockerham of the University of California—Riverside (UCR) asked me a month or so ago if I would give a presentation during the planned “Victor A. Gibeault Symposium on Turfgrass Water Conservation.” Since Audubon International has many members and friends in Southern California, it seemed like the right thing to do.

But, it was actually the name “Victor A. Gibeault” that motivated me to participate in the symposium.

The agenda was full of interesting, science-based presentations that ranged from an overview of the science of turfgrass water use to water management technologies. The day was also aimed at celebrating the career and contributions of Vic Gibeault.

In the early 1980s, Dr. Vic Gibeault organized a symposium that brought the knowledge of turfgrass water use together in a landmark publication titled “Turfgrass Water Conservation,” which was published by the University of California—Oakland. The science and technology of turfgrass water use have advanced substantially since that publication.

I first met Vic about 15 years ago as a member of the United States Golf Association Turfgrass and Environmental Research Committee.

When I think about Vic, the first word that comes to mind is “gentleman,” but, Vic is also an honorable steward of the environment in both his profession and his personal life. It was Vic who worked to enroll the first to-be-developed church in Audubon International’s Signature program. He has respectful demeanor about him that allows him to guide people with a variety of views to consensus and then to successful results.

Vic Gibeault, PhD

Vic recently retired as the head of the Environmental Horticulture Department of UCR. His many friends and peers decided that it would be a great time to recognize the significant influence that Vic has had over the years on the turfgrass industry in California and throughout the United States. Thus, the symposium was called, and in future years will continue to be called, The Victor A. Gibeault Symposium on Turfgrass Water Conservation.

Fortunately for us all, Vic has accepted an Emeritus position at the UCR and he has already begun helping me introduce Audubon International to people and organizations in Southern California. While the symposium was great, the retirement dinner at the botanical garden of the University of California Riverside was even better. One after another, his friends and colleagues took the microphone to poke a little fun at Vic, but mostly to express their admiration and love for an exceptional man.

Three cheers, Vic!! Here’s to a great retirement and a move to the next chapter of your life, which I am sure, will continue to inspire us all. ●

garden fountains; replacing a reading area lost during construction; and constructing of a gazebo type structure.

Audubon International is always glad to hear about updates and improvements members have made to their projects. Bay Meadow Elementary is part of the Audubon Partners for the Environment-Schools and Youth Program. You can learn more about the program at Audubon International’s website: www.auduboninternational.org (keyword: Audubon Partners for the Environment). ●

Planting the Seed at Peel Village Golf Course Continued from page 9

Overall the work at the Peel Village Golf Course has utilized community partnerships, the resources of course management, the City of Brampton, and TRCA to lay a great foundation for expanding and enhancing the natural system within the Etobicoke Watershed. Its success has planted the seed for a future of an improved environment within the community.

Peel Village Golf Course is a municipal course that is owned and operated by the City of Brampton in Ontario, Canada. It has been designated as a certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary since 1998.

For more information about the course please visit: www.brampton.ca/ peel_village/home.taf. For more information on the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program, please visit www.auduboninternational.org. ●

M E M B E R S H I P

A C T I V I T Y

AUDUBON COOPERATIVE SANCTUARY PROGRAMS NEW MEMBERS

United States Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, CA Maple Grove Cemetery, Kew Gardens, NY Sunny Point Elementary School, Blue Springs, MO

July 30, 2007 through September 26, 2007

South Carolina

Kiawah Island Golf Resort (Oak Point), Johns Island Kiawah Island Golf Resort (Osprey Point Golf Course), Johns Island Turtle Point Golf Club at Kiawah Island, Kiawah Island Tennessee

RedTail Mountain Club, Mountain City Texas

Golf Program International

White Bear Lake Golf Course, Carlyle, SK, Canada Club de Golf de Punta Mita, Punta Mita, Nayarit, Mexico Playa Mujeres Golf Club, Cancun Quintana Roo, Mexico Arizona

Copper Canyon Golf Club, Buckeye Echo Mesa Golf Course/Recreation Centers of Sun City West, Sun City West California

Maderas Golf Club, Poway The SCGA Golf Course, Murrieta

Fair Oaks Ranch Golf & Country Club, Fair Oaks Ranch The Bear Trace at Harrison Bay, Harrison RECENTLY CERTIFIED AUDUBON COOPERATIVE SANCTUARIES

Cougar Point at Kiawah Island, Kiawah Island, SC Des Moines Golf & Country Club, West Des Moines, IA Grande Pines Golf Club, Orlando, FL Los Lagos Golf Course, San Jose, CA Plantation Preserve Golf Course & Club– City of Plantation, Plantation, FL The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island, Kiawah Island, SC Wolf Creek Resort, Eden, UT

Florida

Oyster Creek Golf and Country Club, Brandenton Spring Run Golf Club, Bonita Springs Hawaii

Makena Golf, LLC North and South Courses, Wailuku Indiana

Forest Hills Country Club, Richmond Sagamore Golf Club, Noblesville Kentucky

Lafayette Golf Club, Falls of Rough Maryland

Montgomery Country Club, Laytonsville Prospect Bat Country Club, Grasonville New Hampshire

Montcalm Golf Club, Hanover Pennsylvania

Hartfield National Golf Club, Avondale Hidden Valley Resort Golf Course, Hidden Valley

RECERTIFIED AUDUBON COOPERATIVE SANCTUARIES Certified for 10 Years or more

Chester Valley Golf Club, Malvern, PA Morro Bay Golf Course, Morro Bay, CA TPC Tampa Bay, Lutz, FL Wade Hampton Golf Club, Cashiers, NC Certified for Five Years or more

Baltusrol Golf Club, Springfield, NJ Crosswater Golf Club, Sunriver, OR Fawn Lake Country Club, Spotsylvania, VA Glen Annie Golf Club, Santa Barbara, CA Hermitage Golf Course (Presidents Reserve), Old Hickory, TN Holly Hills Country Club, Ijamsville, MD Laurel Creek Country Club, Mt. Laurel, NJ Leatherstocking Golf Course, Cooperstown, NY Lemon Bay Golf Club, Englewood, FL National Service Resort & Country Club, Republic of Singapore, Singapore Port Ludlow Golf Club, Port Ludlow, WA

Saddle Rock Golf Course, Aurora, CO Sandy Hollow Golf Course, Rockford, IL Varpinge Golfbana, Lund, Sweden Victoria National Golf Club, Newburgh, IN Winding River Golf Course, Indianapolis, IN Certified for Two Years or More

Baraboo Country Club, Baraboo, WI Beaver Creek Golf Club, Avon, CO Camp Creek Golf Club, Panama City Beach, FL Cavalier Golf and Yacht Club, Virginia Beach, VA Crystal Downs Country Club, Frankfort, MI Loch Lloyd Country Club, Belton, MO Mountain Golf Course at Incline Village, Incline Village, NV Short Hills Country Club, East Moline, IL Station Creek Golf Club, Gormley, ON, Canada Timber Creek and Sierra Pines Golf Courses, Sun City Roseville, Roseville, CA Yosemite National Park/Wawona Golf Course, Yosemite, CA

AUDUBON PARTNERS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT NEW MEMBERS

Palisades Episcopal School, Charlotte, NC SavATree—Basking Ridge Branch, Basking Ridge, NJ SavATree—Bedford Hills Branch, Bedford Hills, NY SavATree—Beverly Farms Branch, Beverly Farms, MA SavATree—Conshohocken Branch, Conshohocken, PA SavATree—Danbury Branch, Danbury, CT SavATree—Lincoln Branch, Lincoln, MA SavATree—Mamaroneck Branch, Mamaroneck, NY SavATree—Manassas Branch, Manassas, MA SavATree—Mashpee Branch, Mashpee, MA SavATree—Mountainside Branch, Mountainside, NJ SavATree—Norwalk Branch, Norwalk, CT SavATree—Old Brookville Branch, Old Brookville, NY SavATree—Old Saybrook Branch, Old Saybrook, CT SavATree—Princeton Junction Branch, Princeton Junction, NJ SavATree—Rockville Branch, Rockville, MD SavATree—Southampton Branch, Southampton, NY SavATree—Windsor Branch, Windsor, CT SavATree—Wyckoff Branch, Wyckoff, NJ

AUDUBON SIGNATURE PROGRAMS NEW SIGNATURE MEMBERS

Sawmill Creek, Palm Coast, FL Vahalla Brandywine, Philadelphia, PA RECENTLY CERTIFIED SIGNATURE SANCTUARIES

The Golf Club at Gray’s Crossing, Truckee, CA Chambers Bay, University Place, WA RE-CERTIFIED SIGNATURE SANCTUARIES

The Villages of Marion, The Villages, FL, certified since 2002 The Bridges Golf Club at Hollywood Casino, Bay St. Louis, MS, certified since 2002 Audubon Park Golf Course, New Orleans, LA, certified since 2004 The Ridge at Manitou Golf Club, Canada

11

Stewardship News

12

Audubon International publishes Stewardship News six times a year.

Inquiries, contributions, or letters to the editor should be addressed to:

Audubon International Attends the 2008 Golf Industry Show

Valle Del Sol Golf Course, Costa Rica

We are pleased to be attending the Golf Industry Show in Orlando, FL, January 31–February 2, 2008. If you are attending, please stop by our booth and say hello. We will be conducting a seminar for the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America titled: Uncovering the Business Value of Environmental Stewardship—Thursday 1:00 p.m.— Kevin Fletcher, Executive Director.

Joshua Conway, Editor Audubon International 46 Rarick Road Selkirk, NY 12158

Or sent via e-mail to: jconway@auduboninternational.org Layout and Design: 2k Design,

Clifton Park, NY Printing: Benchemark Printing,

Schenectady, NY Audubon International is a non-profit environmental organization dedicated to fostering more sustainable human and natural communities through research, education, and conservation assistance. Programs seek to educate, assist, and inspire millions of people from all walks of life to protect and sustain the land, water, wildlife, and natural resources around them. Funding is provided by memberships, donations, and program sponsorship. The ACSP Golf Program is sponsored by The United States Golf Association.

The newsletter is printed on recycled paper.

If you have a change of address or contact person, please let us know.

Call (518) 767-9051, ext. 12 or E-mail jbatza@auduboninternational.org

Help us to keep up to date!

Phone: (518) 767-9051 Web Page: http://www.auduboninternational.org e-mail: acss@auduboninternational.org Audubon International 46 Rarick Road Selkirk, New York 12158 Permit No. 55 Delmar, NY 12054

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