Natural approach builds club community.

In 2002, Audubon International set a goal to have 50 percent of all golf courses in America enrolled and active in their Cooperative Sanctuary Program by 2007. The Club Managers Association of America supports this "Fifty in Five" initiative, and is asking country clubs to consider enrolling their golf course in the program.

We have been certified at Treesdale Golf & Country Club (located in Gibsonia, PA) as an Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary since 2001. Being an Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary has been a big benefit to us at Treesdale Golf & Country Club as we are part of a master planned-community. It is not only great for community relations, but it also helps us explain the presence of our "naturalized areas" to both golfers and community residents. This is as Arnold Palmer, our golf course architect, intended Treesdale to be--a tremendous benefit to wildlife. We have 400 acres for 27 holes, and over 200 acres has been left natural. We truly have become a wildlife sanctuary.

Conservation biologists believe in the concept of "keystone" species. Just as an arch cannot stand without its keystone, entire ecosystems are dependent on certain animals. For example, in Africa, the elephant creates a mixture of woodlands and grasslands making the Savannah hospitable to more creatures. It provides water by creating new water holes and much more. Because of the elephant, the entire ecosystem flourishes.

The Next Seven Generations

Today, human beings are a "keystone" species. Actually, we are the keystone species, as all of life on earth is dependent upon us. Rather than accept this role, we often are at odds with it. Not only do our actions threaten our planet, but we also seem to have trouble relating to our own species. What can we do about it? Well, we can make a difference starting with our own club communities in how we relate to each other and how we treat the most incredible gift we all have been given--Mother Earth.

Native Americans believe we have a responsibility to live our lives in such a manner as to give a gift to our children seven generations from now. What they mean is we must treat the earth and all that dwell thereon with respect so that our children's children and generations beyond will be able to enjoy it. This respect for Mother Nature was handed down from generation to generation within tribes and still is today. We can learn from their approach to life on this earth. Think about it--seven generations at our current lifespan is 500 years from now. Are we doing things now to insure a legacy to our children's children and beyond?

Audubon Program Benefits

According to Audubon International, there are many benefits from the Audubon Program such as:

1.) Business Value--Courses may save money as a result of the program through reduced water, chemical, energy, and resource use. Not only is this true, but in some states if you leave certain areas "natural," you may receive lower rates on property taxes through programs such as "Clean & Green" in Pennsylvania.

2.) Job Satisfaction--Ninety-five percent of superintendents managing courses in the Audubon Program report increased job satisfaction among their employees. This should not be a surprise as people feel good about being part of something that is good, or more appropriately, something that accomplishes good.

3.) Image & Reputation--Producing real, tangible results for the environment helps community relations and can do the same with local government officials and regulators.

4.) Lower Insurance Premiums--By being able to reduce risk through improved chemical storage and application practices, many insurance companies may reduce your rates.

5.) Environmental Performance--If all the other areas did nothing for you, you still are protecting and enhancing the natural environment in your community--water, wildlife, and natural resources. If nothing else, it is simply the right thing to do.

Making a Difference

At Treesdale, we have realized all five benefits outlined by Audubon International. We have saved money, reduced property taxes, increased job satisfaction, enhanced our image in our community, lowered our insurance premiums, and improved the environment in which we live. When you look at all the environmental problems in the world today, it seems overwhelming and it is easy to feel helpless to affect change.

But the Audubon Program helped us break it down into bite-sized pieces and focus on what we could accomplish ourselves. It is amazing what we all can accomplish if we think out of the box, and Audubon has helped us do so. Once you get into it you can enroll others in your program; we have had Boy Scouts build bluebird houses, Girl Scouts plant trees, etc.

I have often heard club manager Gregg Patterson from the Beach Club in Santa Monica, CA say that we must be in the business of creating "community" in our clubs. One of his favorite quotes is from William Blake's "Auguries of Innocence," written in 1796, that begins: "To see a World in a Grain of Sand and a Heaven in a Wild Flower, hold Infinity in the palm of your hand and Eternity in an hour ..." If you think of community in a more esoteric sense, it can be expanded to more than just Webster's definition of a group of people in a common area with common interests. If you think of it from a biologist's viewpoint, a community can be an entire ecosystem--people, plants, animals, earth air, water, etc.

Reaching a Broader Community

If we expand our definition of community to fit this view, being a part of the Audubon Program takes on even more significance. At our club, one of the biggest hits of the year was our catch-and-release fishing tournament for kids at our Fall Festival. Why? Because kids don't get outdoors anymore and consequently they don't understand nature and the circle of life we are part of. Today kids often never leave their house in a day. Our hayrides and nature walks are popular at Treesdale because we show kids things like Queen Anne's Lace and Cattails and tell them how they can be prepared and eaten as wild carrots and potatoes. We show them Purple Coneflower and explain that this is where Echinacea comes from that can help a cold go away. We discuss how all of nature is interconnected and show them deer sleeping areas, grey fox dens, and live wild turkey roosts. They begin to understand the nature of a young field versus a mature one, a new forest versus an old forest, and how all the species of plants and animals are entwined.

Our fishing tournament is catch-and-release because of the DDT residue in the lake from the apple orchard that was on our property 50 years ago. And yet an ironic twist is that local residents still think the golf course pollutes the water and the apple farm was a perfect world. So part of being an Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary is educating people about what we really do. Doing things like letting people know we have brought bluebirds back to the area, that purple martins are a great way to control mosquitoes, that letting hillside areas go wild provides more habitat for mice, and other small mammals that in turn become food for hawks and owls.

Becoming an Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary is not an answer to all of your club's problems, but it can serve as the catalyst that starts you on a path to creating a great club community. The bottom line is it is up to us to improve our environment and Audubon gives you that chance and a whole lot more.

JACK KIMBELL, CCM, CHE GENERAL MANAGER TREESDALE GOLF AND COUNTRY CLUB

Jack Kimbell, CCM, CHE is general manager of Treesdale Golf & Country Club and has been in club management for over 20 years at fitness, dining, and country clubs. He is a member of the ClubCorp leadership university faculty and is a guest lecturer at several universities.