Stewardship News Fall 2023

OVER $697 ,000 GRANTED ACROSS 48 PROJECTS

THE FAIRWAYS FOUNDATION COULD HELP FUND YOUR PROJECT. APPLY FOR A GRANT IN 2024.

Aquatrols established The Fairways Foundation with the purpose of funding local and global projects that advance the conservation of our natural resources. These projects will help to preserve the environment we live and work in while encouraging education and stewardship not only within our own industry but also within wider communities.

GRANT SUBMISSIONS ARE OPEN THROUGH APRIL 30, 2024

If you are considering environmentally conscious projects visit TheFairWaysFoundation.com for more details.

CEO CORNER

The Sustainable Community Revolution

Everyserious sustainability effort starts with a serious plan, and every plan starts with serious and committed people with a shared purpose: To live in harmony with their environment.

This has always been a bedrock fact for Audubon International and its partners around the world. Over our 35-year history we’ve worked side by side with thousands of golf superintendents, resort managers, parks directors, business owners and entire communities to reach, maintain and further their sustainability goals.

As we all look in the rear-view mirror at the hottest summer in recorded history and look forward to the cooler days and nights of autumn and winter, I’d like to acknowledge all our partners, across all our certification programs, for their continued unceasing strides toward their stewardship goals, and for their confidence in the expertise and science-backed counsel of our environmental specialists. Every visit to a partner’s property gives us added insight into what they truly need to succeed, and how we need to evolve as a respected, third-party, non-profit organization to help them fill that need, now and into the future.

No partner exemplifies the importance of setting goals and working together to reach them than the good and dedicated army of homeowners and leaders at The Landings on Skidaway Island, the subject of this issue’s cover story. By any measure, this carefully planned collection of homes, golf courses, parks, and other public and private spaces—approximately 8,500 people— is the “gold standard” for our Sustainable Communities program, or any kind of concerted stewardship plan, not only in the Southeast, but across the United States. Audubon International’s relationship with The Landings began a quarter-century ago with a phone call inquiring about our Signature Sanctuary certification program and has since blossomed into a truly indispensable partnership with the island’s own non-profit organization, Skidaway Audubon, which in turn works with other local organizations, enlisting countless volunteers to make sure the community keeps building on its 50-year-history of sustainable best practices. After reading their story you’ll see them for the special place they are, and what your community could be.

How to become a Sustainable Community? One great place to start is by checking out our fact sheets at www.auduboninternational.org where we describe the three “branches” of a sustainability—health/equity, economic vitality, and natural environment—and offer a roadmap to success in areas such as transportation (as simple as building more bike paths), energy use, water efficiency, urban infill (which leaves more habitat for wildlife and reduces sprawl), creating and maintaining natural landscapes, and waste management (such as composting). By enlisting every stakeholder, from residents to developers to business owners, in a Sustainable Community plan in partnership with Audubon International, today’s forward-thinking and stewardship-minded planners are setting the course for more livable and environments for all. Indeed, it takes a village to thrive in harmony with nature.

The Landings on Skidaway Island is proof positive that Sustainable Communities work for the benefit of everyone, in every way. We look forward to what the future holds for your community.

Christine Kane, Chief Executive Officer, Audubon International christine@auduboninternational.org

www.auduboninternational.org

518.767.9051 | Toll-free 1.844.767.9051

Audubon International Headquarters 120 Defreest Drive, Troy, NY 12180

STAFF

Christine Kane , Chief Executive Officer christine@auduboninternational.org

Frank LaVardara, Director, Environmental Programs for Golf frank@auduboninternational.org

Fred Realbuto, Director Green Lodging/Green Hospitality Certification fred@auduboninternational.org

Kat Welch, Director, Signature Sanctuary Certification kat@auduboninternational.org

Scott Turner, Environmental Program Manager scott@auduboninternational.org

Alison Davy, Finance and Operations Manager alisond@auduboninternational.org

Tallis Warren, Member Services Manager tallis@auduboninternational.org

Sarah Honan, Environmental Program Specialist sarah@auduboninternational.org

Kelsey King, Environmental Program Specialist kelsey@auduboninternational.org

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Henry DeLozier, Chairman

Rich Katz, Vice Chairman

Matt Ceplo, Treasurer

Marvin Moriarty, Secretary

Jennifer Grant, Ph.D.

Dan Murphy

Jake Riekstins

James Singerling, CCM

Bryan Stromme

Henry Wallmeyer

Randy Winegard

STEWARDSHIP NEWS STAFF

Vic Williams, Editor | Alissa Theodor, Designer

CHAIRMAN’S CORNER

The Landings Lives Audubon International’s Mission

Withmore than 6,000 acres of sprawling saltmarsh, The Landings near Savannah is breathtakingly wonderful natural habitat. It is home to numerous species of fauna and flora sharing space with some eight thousand residents. The value proposition at The Landings is prodigious and rich with natural wonders – some profound and some tantalizingly delicate.

Since its beginnings, The Landings has recognized its interrelationships with the surrounding marshes and waterways. The Landings’ first homes were built in 1972 when final construction on two bridges connecting Skidaway Island to the mainland was completed.

Those first homes were part of a master plan designed by Hideo Sasaki, the internationally renowned landscape architect and chairman of Harvard’s Landscape Architecture Department. Sasaki’s vision of The Landings was that the streets should resemble limbs of a tree, the houses should blend with forest growth, and the approach to the island from the bridge should resemble a green belt.

Green space was a key design element of the community plan and earned The Landings the designation as the first Audubon International Certified Sustainable Community in Georgia. The community’s commitment to environmentalism ripples through residents’ enjoyment of boating the waterways, playing golf on the six 18-hole golf courses, and cultivating their own vegetables in a community garden. Living harmoniously with nature is a part of everything one can do at The Landings.

Steven Freund is responsible for keeping such a special place…special. Steven is the Executive Director at The Landings, whose duties include the operation of multiple clubs which include golf courses, robust court sports and tennis clubs, swimming amenities, and numerous dining venues alongside some 30 miles of parks and trails. The Landings is featured in this edition of the Audubon International newsletter and with good reason…it is a large community with a small-town heartbeat. This is especially so when one sees the community’s commitment to sound environmental practices.

Drawing on a professional background which is rich in five-star experience with Ritz-Carlton in Michigan, Florida, and Georgia, Steven recognizes the critical importance of environmental stewardship. “Our Club exists on a barrier island, bordering one of the largest salt-water marshes on the eastern seaboard. While six championship golf courses and accompanying recreational and social amenities are critical to our club and community’s sustainability, it is the coastal environment, the maritime forest and the wildlife that roams our undeveloped areas and lagoons that sets our club apart. While we believe preservation of the environment is noble without other motivating factors, we also have compelling business interests to ensure the environment that makes being a member of The Landings Golf and Athletic Club unique is protected and remains a competitive advantage for our club.”

With his finger-on-the-pulse understanding of his members’ attitudes, Steven emphasizes how homeowners and members at The Landings value the “naturalness” of the community, “With great respect to communities and clubs woven into major urban areas, a critical deciding factor to move to The Landings and join our club is the sense of seclusion and separation, without being remote. Our developer was prescient in choosing famed land planner Hideo Sasaki to establish the way our community would evolve. Sasaki paid attention to how island roads flowed (there isn’t a straight road over a quarter mile), established guiding principles on preservation of the tree canopy and generally how the community was integrated into the coastal environment. Those plans laid the foundation for a community and club that each year becomes a better version of the original vision as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of our club.”

It is no surprise that Steven and his management team embrace the mission of Audubon International, joining with us to create environmentally sustainable environments where people live, work, and play. The Landings, its management team, residents, and club members clearly put the AI mission to work and bring it to life…every day.

Henry Delozier, Chairman of the Board

Black Desert Resort Joins Signature Sanctuary Platinum Program

OnSept. 1, Audubon International welcomed Black Desert Resort, a sustainabilitydriven golf, lodging, recreation and residential community near St. George, Utah, as a registered member of its Audubon International Signature Sanctuary Program.

Over the coming months, Black Desert will work closely with Audubon International’s team of environmental specialists to formulate a plan to earn property-wide designation as a Platinum Certified Signature Sanctuary, starting with its 19-hole championship golf course. The late Tom Weiskopf's final design winds through a tableau of red rocks and black lava fields. The course will host an annual PGA Tour event starting in September 2024 and an LPGA event starting in spring 2025.

Reef Capital Partners, the investment firm behind Black Desert, put environmental sustainability at the center of its development plan from day one, with an eye toward eventually achieving Signature Sanctuary Platinum

Certification for the entire property.

“We are thrilled to welcome Black Desert as the first Signature Sanctuary Platinum enrollee in the state of Utah, and one of the first in America,” said Christine Kane, Audubon International’s CEO. “As the development takes shape on some of the West’s most ecologically diverse and visually stunning landscapes, we will partner with them to create a lasting and groundbreaking model of environmental stewardship on all fronts — golf course, resort, retail and residential.”

Troon Golf, led by Superintendent Ken Yates, manages the course, overseeing its maintenance and maturation along with crucial protocols like water use and turf selection and coverage. Black Desert’s 150-room eco-hotel is set to open in fall 2024, with Golf Village, Family Village and Boardwalk complexes to follow. The long-term plan envisions the potential for up to 1,000 homes.

All irrigation comes from gray water sources to save water on Black Desert’s 75 acres of turf. Fairways use bentgrass, which eliminates the need

Photo Courtesy of Brian Oar

to overseed or apply too many chemical fertilizers. “It’s more of a permanent turf solution,” said Yates. “Now we have grasses that can handle our hot summers and cold winters.”

This light-on-the-land ethic will continue throughout the entire project, including the hotel and other structural elements, starting with a low-voltage Power Over Ethernet system and an advanced regenerative media filter system for water savings.

“From the golf course standpoint, we look to be as sustainable as we can be. And Audubon International has shown a track record of assisting with that. That’s really what our partnership is about,” said Ross Laubscher, executive director of construction and Agronomy for Reef Capital. “We’re looking for them to help us develop a

Illinois Park District Scores ACSP Certification

TheNorthbrook Park District in the greater Chicago area is in unique company, recently the first park district in Illinois to earn the certification of the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program. The distinction is bestowed to organizations that demonstrate environmental achievements and leadership.

According to officials, Techny Prairie Park and Fields and Wood Oaks Green Park met the rigorous standards required for the certification by Audubon International.

The two parks are among only three locations in Illinois to meet the standard, the other being Cantigny Park in Wheaton. Across the entire United States, only 27 non-golf course locations have earned the designation.

“Our vision statement speaks to being a national leader in parks and recreation. This mark has once again been achieved due to the expertise

product that all can be proud of, that shows we’re environmentally conscious and that the product is sustainable years from now.”

Reef Capital has also enlisted Dr. Joseph Platt as director of environmental affairs to look after the vast natural areas of the 600-acre property. With Audubon International’s direction, he will work with staff and faculty from nearby Utah Tech University to initiate research and monitoring programs.

For more information about Black Desert Resort, visit www.blackdesertresort.com.

Look for a full “On The Horizon” spotlight feature in the Winter 2023 edition of Stewardship News.

and passion of our committed staff,” Park District Executive Director Molly Hamer said.

In addition, key components of the plan include promotion of biodiversity through native plantings and bird-friendly environments; water and energy conservation, as well as waste reduction; environmental education for staff, members and visitors; wildlife and habitat assessment to guide conservation efforts; chemical use reduction, including the use of organic or lowimpact alternatives; and community engagement through volunteer activities and collaboration.

The two-year certification process was capped by an in-person site audit from Audubon International, which verified the park district met all standards for excellence.

—Adapted from a story by Eric DeGrechie published on www.patch.com, Aug. 11, 2023

The FairWays Foundation Completes Fourth Grant Cycle

Founded in 2019, The FairWays Foundation has now completed its fourth grant cycle, bringing the total grant figure to $697,616 since its inception with 48 projects supported across the USA, Canada, Europe and UK.

The FairWays Foundation is a stand-alone 501c3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to supporting and promoting conservation and stewardship within the turf industry and beyond. The foundation supports conservation-based projects both big and small by granting funds to successful applicants globally.

Ninteen projects have been funded in the 2023 grant cycle, totalling $255,825 in funds. The Grant Committee and Board were delighted to review a dynamic variation in projects including a Great Salt Lake Field Trip program, key habitat expansions and enhancements on Pawleys Island, invasive plant removal, restoration of calcareous grasslands, the establishment of pollinator gardens using native wildflower species, and more.

Audubon International’s CEO, Christine Kane, who previously served as a member of the Foundation's Board of Directors and still continues

as Chair of the Grant Committee, said, “The FairWays Foundation is having a positive and meaningful impact on the environment after just four short years. The quantity and variety of grant applications has increased each year and I look forward to seeing the foundation grow into the future.”

The 2024 funding cycle opens February 2024. Find out how to apply

To view more information about all the projects that have being supported so far, click here.

The FairWays Foundation is looking for ambassadors to help reach those who wish to champion environmental projects but are unable to proceed due to lack of resources. Find out how you can get involved here.

The FairWays Foundation is a stand-alone 501c3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to

safeguarding our environment, supporting conservation-based projects; big and small, as well as educational events for professionals, newcomers to the field and for future minds.

Environmental stewardship is not an initiative. It is a long-term investment into our future and the future of our industry. The FairWays Foundation directly funds local and global projects that advance the conservation of our natural resources. These projects will help to preserve the environment we live and work in whilst encouraging education and stewardship not only within our own industry but also within wider communities.

For more information, visit www.thefairwaysfoundation.com

Strong Membership Growth Continues in 2023

AudubonInternational is in a membership enrollment growth spurt these days, and it shows no signs of slowing.

From April 28 to July 28, eleven golf clubs from every corner of the United States, as well as one club in Bogota, Colombia, enrolled in the ACSP for Golf Certification program. In the U.S., there are six new members from California and one each from Alabama, Colorado, Hawaii, Missouri and South Carolina.

Amelia Island, Florida, is home to all five new Green Lodging Certification program enrollees. They range from a Comfort Suites to Ritz-Carlton, highlighting the Green Lodging program’s suitability for lodging partners of all sizes and price points.

“We continue to celebrate our 35th anniversary as a leader in implementing, teaching and championing sustainability practices for outdoor

spaces including golf courses and indoor spaces such as hotels and corporate buildings,” says Christine Kane, CEO of Audubon International. “We continue to welcome a steady stream of new enrollees in all of our certification programs, and we invite all operators to join us in planning and implementing a more sustainable future for their businesses, and the planet.”

Several more new members came on board in August and September, as well, mostly in the ACSP for Golf category. Two Canadian courses — Country Club Montreal and Burlington Golf & Country Club — joined the fold, while Nemacolin Resort in southwest Pennsylvania highlighted the new American sign-ups with their “bundle” application for several levels of certification.

Volunteers of All Ages Tally Golf Course Species

Nearly 500 volunteers visited golf courses nationwide to participate in Audubon International’s 7th annual BioBlitz after a threeyear Covid-19 hiatus. This event provides a unique opportunity for golf courses to engage their community members in activities designed to showcase and record the abundance of wildlife found on their course landscapes. Participating courses went above and beyond in their outreach and environmental stewardship efforts. Participants also competed for awards in Community Engagement, Biodiversity, and Best Photograph.

Said Christine Kane, CEO at Audubon International, “Audubon International’s annual BioBlitz is a great way for golf courses to create an awareness among society of their wildlife habitat value,

especially in urban locations. It’s also a wonderful opportunity for community members from all walks of life to meet and learn about nature while getting outside and having fun.”

Individuals volunteering to take part in the search for plant and wildlife species at their local golf course included a remarkable combination of men’s, women’s, and junior golf league members, scout troops, local birding groups, club members, golf course employees, community members from surrounding neighborhoods, entire families, school children, and other nature enthusiasts.

Over 3,000 species were recorded during this year’s BioBlitz.

Southwinds Golf Course in Florida received the Community Engagement Award with a total of 247 participants. Key to their success was both a BioBlitz Ladies Scramble with special cocktails names after local birds and a Junior BioBlitz session that included a BioBlitz themed putting contest. The Southwinds Golf Course guests and staff were excited to see BioBlitz come back this

Participating kids at Southwinds Golf Course’s 2023 BioBlitz Event

BIOBLITZ 2023

year. Glencoe Golf Club, Illinois and University of Maryland Golf Course, Maryland came in second and third place, respectively, for Community Engagement.

The award for Best Photograph went to the University of Maryland Golf Course for their photograph of a Dolichopus comatus (long-legged fly).

Laura Russell,

University of Maryland’s General Assistant, said, “Using the golf course in this way had many educational and environmental benefits. Students were able to practice wildlife identification skills they had only read about in the classroom. Professionals from the community shared techniques and strategies they have learned over their careers. We all learned the immense value the golf course provides as a home to such a diversity of species. Who knew that it was home to a Keeled Treehopper, Versute Sharpshooter or a Mile-a-minute Weevil, not to mention a beautiful Baltimore Oriole or Pileated Woodpecker? With knowledge gained we will be better equipped to take protective actions needed to keep and further develop a healthy, diverse ecosystem on this beautiful UMD green property.With this first event completed, we are now developing ways to run smaller versions of the BioBlitz for our PGA kids and local high schools.”

Harbour Ridge Yacht & Country Club in Florida received this year’s Biodiversity Award, with 607 species identified on their course. Mary Hutchinson, 2023 BioBlitz Co-Coordinator, sent the following report:

“Having a well-organized, sortable and comprehensive master species list was likely one of the keys to our success at Harbour Ridge. We had participated in two previous BioBlitz’s prior to this year’s event, so ahead of June 6 we spent some time improving upon our 2018 master species list. We first moved the list from a Word document to

a spreadsheet, refined the species categories and added several missing categories. For example, instead of Plants, we broke this into Flowering Shrubs, Evergreen Shrubs, Succulents, Groundcovers, Vines/Climbers, etc. Within each of the categories we used common names for species that were also sorted alphabetically, helping to identify any missing or duplicate species on the master check list. It further allowed participants to locate a species on the list and check it off. Some participants used the iNaturalist and Merlin BirdID app to help with species identification.

“Getting the word out early was important and done through different communication methods. We used direct emails to groups and to the general membership via club emails, the club newsletter and the Community Facebook page. We also prepared a BioBlitz pamphlet and scorecards and distributed hard copies at various locations around the community and also in digital form on-line. Having a central drop-off location for the completed score cards and lists also helped.

“We sought to engage a wide variety of participants, not only golfers and homeowners, but also the birding group, nature lovers, walkers, cyclists and those who fish in the golf course ponds and along the river. We also targeted key individuals and naturalists who were knowledgeable with wildlife, plants, birds, reptile, and mammals. Some dedicated participants even went out in the early morning, then again late on the afternoon/ early evening to observe different species at different times of the day.

Our members had a blast participating in the 2023 BioBlitz and it helped to showcase the rich and diverse ecosystem that we all call our golf community home.”

Second and third place for Biodiversity went to Meadow Club in California with 444 species sighted, and Ironwood Golf Course, in Michigan, reporting 405 species.

For information on this year’s BioBlitz or to get in on next year’s event, visit https://auduboninternational.org/bioblitz/

Photo of Dolichopus comatus courtesy of Adrienne van den Beemt

Winning photograph of Dolichopus comatus (long-legged fly), from University of Maryland Golf Course

The Landings on Skidaway Island Sets A High Bar for Sustainable Communities

By Vic Williams

EveryAudubon International certification program thrives on partnerships—people working hand in hand and shoulder to shoulder, fueled by experience, expertise, data and passion, who form the bedrock on every road to sustainability. Golf course superintendents, resort operators, hotel managers, parks directors, municipality decision makers, and sometimes the residents of entire communities are the partners who keep the ship of stewardship steaming along toward its destination.

Then there’s The Landings on Skidaway Island, a planned community near Savannah, Georgia. Through a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization,

Skidaway Audubon, The Landings is a partner with Audubon International on so many levels that it’s pretty much on its own level.

From the first phone call to Audubon International inquiring about golf course certification 25 years ago, The Landings has continued to broaden its stewardship horizons. Not long after all six golf courses were certified as Audubon Cooperative Sanctuaries, achieving measurable results in wildlife habitat creation, water quality and conservation, recycling, and chemical reduction, and outreach and education, Skidaway Audubon expanded its focus into more areas of environmental stewardship. In partnership with

A beautiful owl on display at The Landings.

The 12th hole on The Landings’ Marshwood Golf Course shows the Lowlands community’s incredible beauty and diversity

Photo Courtesy of Michael Ortiz

the golf course superintendents and in concert with the community’s HOA, the Landings Association, scores of community volunteers took leadership roles to expand bluebird trails, rescue terrapin turtles, plant pollinator gardens, put a birdcam on an eagle’s nest, build a community garden, halt the invasion of Chinese Tallow trees, install bat houses, offer educational programming and more. These projects continue and others have followed, as Skidaway Audubon strives for excellence in its stated mission to “enhance and conserve Skidaway Island’s natural environment and resources.”

As well, there are several organizations in this community of 8,500 people with a passion for stewardship—economic, environmental, and social—whose work contributed to the decision to go after certification as a sustainable community.

As a result, The Landings on Skidaway has emerged as the gold standard for sustainable communities everywhere and proved itself the ultimate partner to Audubon International’s team of environmental consultants. Indeed, its wide-ranging efforts have helped shape the certification program itself.

FROM PASSION TO ACTION

Besides overseeing “living assets,” facilities, construction, storm drains, roads and vehicle fleets, Sean Burgess, Public Works Director at The Landings Association, works with Skidaway Audubon’s board and property owners to keep his own love for the natural environment, and the community’s commitment to it, at the forefront of the operation.

That commitment feeds into the longstanding relationship with Audubon International. While the certification program’s three guiding principles—Assess, Plan, and Implement—are hard and fast for all applicants, the elements change as best practices evolve. The Landings has played a vital part in that evolution.

“One cool thing with Audubon International is the ability to be able to shoot out ideas,” Burgess says. “A lot of the programs and information they receive from different communities can be shared. ‘Such and such community created a bluebird trail—this is the real cost of it.’ That’s a launching pad to say, all right, what were the pitfalls? What

should we realistically budget to make sure we’re maintaining this at a level we need? That’s been one of the big draws for us. You can feed Audubon real time results—‘this is what happened when we did this.’ They can then incorporate them into their programming for others.”

The biggest challenge for The Landings, Burgess adds, was and continues to be “capturing and reporting on all the great things that various volunteer groups and the [Landings Association] and club are doing. They all contribute to the whole. What our sustainability initiative did was to pull those distinct groups together, at least in our reporting documents, requiring everyone to communicate. It was really the first time we could see and measure the breadth of what is going on and how each group complements the other. There’s a group for everything on this island, and if there’s not, someone will step up to create it.”

Christine Kane, CEO of Audubon International, agrees that The Landings has become an indispensable partner. “What started with one golf course certification has flourished into a deep and abiding relationship that continues to improve our

One of several turtle hatcheries at The Landings on Skidaway Island

Sustainable Communities program while involving and empowering Landings residents to create and manage their environment in ways that every residential and recreational concern across the country can and should strive to match.”

And strive they do. Burgess mentions developments far and near that have taken The Landings’ efforts to heart. “Larger developments in cities have incorporated some practices as far as leaving natural buffer areas,” he says. “Some of the smaller communities, 40 to 150 home sites, have a lot of our policies in place, and everything on our website is forward facing. Instead of reinventing the wheel, a lot of smaller communities that may not have the wherewithal to hire out consultants and develop a fine-tuned program have been able to emulate a lot of what we’ve done. The developer on the front end is key.”

FIVE PROACTIVE DECADES

The Landings’ journey to stewardship standard-bearer began in 1972 with the completion of two bridges connecting the island to the mainland. According to The Landings Company real estate website, www.thelandings.com, “The first homes were part of a master plan designed

by internationally renowned landscape architect Hideo Sasaki, chairman of Harvard’s Landscape Architecture Department … [his] vision of The Landings was that the streets should resemble limbs of a tree, the houses should blend with forest growth, and the approach to the island from the bridge should resemble a green belt. Green space was a key design element and may have lent, in part, to The Landings’ designation as the first Audubon International Certified Sustainable Community in Georgia.”

From the get-go, environmental stewardship was central to what The Landings would become and the precedents it would set. “We had a couple of great board members who were very supportive and put sustainability certification into the strategic plan of the community. That gave us the green light to start developing budgets and support mechanisms to make a lot of it happen,” Burgess says. “We set up a committee and formed a great working relationship with a lot of groups on the island. Even though it’s the Landings that’s been certified, we’ve partnered with other entities on the island, The Skidaway Island State Park and the University of Georgia Marine Extension, whose leadership served on the sustainability board and provided resources and expertise.

Now, a year after celebrating its 50th anniversary, the Landings is nearing full build-out as a 4,420-lot development of 8,500-residents, a great majority of whom live on the island full time. Residents are a mix of locals and folks from traditional feeder markets like the Midwest and Northeast, as well as emerging markets like Florida. “We put Best Management Practices in place for sustainable development and really try to protect those. The original developer had the foresight to build in and around nature and really enhance what’s here. We’ve always seen ourselves as the protectors of those areas.”

FOR THE BIRDS (AND ALL WILDLIFE)

Creating and preserving wildlife habitat is priority one at The Landings. For instance, to protect the salt marsh, owners aren’t allowed to build boat docks. Instead, two marinas serve the avid boating community. Roadways and right of way areas are kept within “swale systems” to reduce

A butterfly trail is an important element of any sustainable community

runoff and promote natural infiltration areas. Landscaped transition zones create those “buffers” between development and natural areas where countless wildlife species thrive, from migrating waterfowl and Monarch butterflies to hundreds of other bird species, fish large and small and dozens of native mammals, reptiles, and amphibians. Wildlife counts and kinds vary from year to year as the community weathers rain and drought cycles. For instance, Burgess says, “We had a lot of wood storks that started visiting the island during droughts in 2007-’09. Another bird that has become a regular visitor is the Roseate Spoonbill.

“We’re usually within the top three in the region in number of species when our group does their backyard birding counts,” Burgess continues. “Citizen scientists and amazing photographers have documented every insect, from damselflies to butterflies, that inhabit one of our niche habitats where volunteers have established a huge pollinator garden. It supports different kinds of insects, butterflies and species of birds than anywhere else on the island.”

Meanwhile, occasional overpopulations of deer and feral hogs are dealt with in a humane, careful and balanced matter in conjunction with local and national authorities such as the USDA. “We

annually do some mitigation in human to wildlife conflict,” Burgess says. “This is a mecca where deer from other islands are eating wax myrtle and whatever else they can find naturally. A lot of our management program is dealing with that migration. It’s not an eradication program by any means. It’s management for the overall health of the herd. Our biggest challenge is we’re the only group in the area that does it. And deer swim here!”

A HOLISTIC APPROACH

The Landings’ proven practices are rubbing off on other developments throughout the Southeast and beyond. “Understanding those philosophies and pushing them forward also helps new developments that [initially] want to come in and build roof line to roof line which creates a lot more environmental problems down the road.”

That applies to new builders within The Landings, too—about 20 to 30 homes per year according to Burgess—and with full buildout in sight, adhering to proven stewardship guidelines is just as crucial now as it was when the Arnold Palmer-designed Oakridge was the property’s first golf course to achieve ACSP for Golf certification in 2000. (By 2002 all six courses were certified, and each has been recertified every two or three years since.)

“We’re starting to re-look at the development holistically,” Burgess says. “When someone wants to encroach on setbacks or open marshes, trying to reinvent the community, we must make sure we have a very strong, educated response. We are giving people the ‘why’ for a lot of the things are in place. There are parking problems, more traffic issues, and while reevaluating it, the first thing someone might say is, ‘Well, open up this right of way, cut down this buffer.’ And I respond, ‘Well, that’s not a buffer. It’s not just trees; it’s infiltration areas. They’re designed as part of the swale system and, while you just see grass and wooded areas. They’re functional.’”

THE WAY FORWARD

The next challenge for The Landings on Skidaway, and indeed all lowland communities throughout the Southeast, is preparing for sea level rise that’s

The bluebird is just one of many of hundreds of avian species at The Landings

well underway. “That’s gonna be a big one,” Burgess says. “We’ve had enough of these king moon tides—nine, 10-foot tides that have come in and flooded back in the streets and lagoon systems and caused a lot of havoc—that people said, ‘all right, now there is some reality to this.’ Setting all politics aside, it’s one thing we’re really going to focus on.”

So, the journey continues. Burgess is confident that The Landings on Skidaway and Skidaway Audubon, as partners with Audubon International, continue to follow the same powerful and proven path that began when the community was founded in 1972.

“About 10 years ago we had some of the original engineers and land planners out and reintro-

duced everyone. We asked if we had attained their vision and what we could improve upon. They looked at everything from our covenants to our land areas. We had the Urban Land Institute out to do some reevaluation as well. We’re trying to make very smart judgments, scientifically based decisions for our future.

“We can draw on our history and the talent and expertise of our residents to partner with us. It is a huge asset to have residents with wide-ranging backgrounds and a devotion to this place they now call home.”

For more on The Landings on Skidaway Island, visit the Landings Association website, www.landings.org, or the Landings Company site, www. thelandings.com.

Local students tour The Landings’ popular, sprawling community garden

The Landings on Skidaway’s Green Journey by Earth, Water and Air

In1998, The Landings Club Board took a significant action to improve the current conditions and better manage the maintenance of its golf courses, by deciding to seek certification of its six courses as Audubon Cooperative Environmental Sanctuaries.

To achieve certification The Landings Club had to demonstrate actions in all these areas to meet rigorous performance standards determined by the Audubon program.

Oakridge was the first course evaluated and certified. The other five followed in the next three years. Each course faces certification renewal every two years, which requires continuing progress in five critical areas and serves as a constant motivator to seek continued better performance.

Deciding to certify its courses into the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program has increased the Landings on Skidaway’s awareness of the need for sustainable best practices, provided the incentive to take action and offered a framework to carry out efforts to sustain that action beyond the Club and into the broader community.

ON THE GOLF COURSES USE OF CHEMICALS

Thorough analysis of the chemicals used led to changing to more effective products and reduced use of them, producing better results with reduced environmental contamination.

WATER QUALITY

Harmful runoff to the property's 151 lagoons has decreased by less chemical use, fewer harmful chemicals and the planting of cord grasses on lagoon banks that serve as a filter, especially on fresh water bodies located on golf courses.

WATER CONSERVATION

The Floridan Aquifer, which provides all drinking water, is incurring saltwater intrusion. As an alternative to using potable water for course irrigation, the Landings relies on shallow wells that capture ground

water runoff and lagoons retaining storm water and only expect to use two deep water wells drawing on the aquifer in emergencies.

Additionally The Club has been successful in significantly reducing water consumption. The installation of state-of-the-art irrigation system on all courses using Evapo-Transpiration (ET) data daily identifies large and small areas needing irrigation and the precise amount needed on all six courses and then instructs only those sprinkler heads among the over 5,000 on the six courses to provide the needed water for a specific area. Improved water quality in freshwater lagoons has had a favorable impact on the health of the fish population.

WILDLIFE HABITAT

The Landings provides natural wildlife habitat on its courses via two approaches. One was to keep as much of the natural landscape that exists, leaving dead trees, called snags, and fallen limbs, both of which provide homes for woodpeckers, nuthatches, chickadees, hawks and ospreys among many others, plus flying squirrels and other animals. Also leaving brush, bushes and natural plants and grasses provides additional habitat for many birds, as well as butterflies, wasps, bees, beetles, and other pollinators that transfer seeds to maintain and expand the natural landscape.

The Landings Club and Association also have comprehensive written tree policies that state the conditions under which trees can be removed and a strict decision process for removal. The second approach is to create natural landscape mainly in barren areas by planting native grasses, shrubs, and trees, providing additional habitat where none existed while also adding beauty to the landscape.

OUTREACH AND EDUCATION

Another element of the Audubon Certification Program is the requirement that The Landings Club publicize its efforts to sustain and improve the environment to engage and educate the community.

Education and outreach have taken many forms, including articles in island and off-island publications, e-mail communication from staff, panel discussions, lectures, the annual presentation of the Environmental Stewardship Awards, participation in community forums, the website, and word of mouth. Special activities such as home renovation expos, the annual fundraiser golf tournament, progress brochures, Skidaway Wildlife and Birding Guides, and turtle hatching parties contribute to communicating and sharing accomplishments which that continue to generate enthusiasm for more projects and programs.

THE BLUEBIRD TRAIL

Each golf course is dotted with pole mounted bluebird nest boxes, over 200 in all, built, repaired, tended and monitored by Landings volunteers. The trail is the largest one of its kind in the Southeast. The trail has prompted many backyard nest boxes as well.

THE SPARROW FIELD

This wildlife sanctuary, once a turf farm for the club, is also supported by volunteers. This field environment is purposely natural, comprised of a large area of native grasses, bushes and trees. It is an attractive haven for a great variety of birdlife, some unique to the local habitat, including ground nesting birds. A pollinator berm garden attracts butterflies, bees and other pollinators as well as citizen scientists and photographers of distinction, bringing widespread recognition. It also serves as a University of Georgia study site for monarch butterflies.

IN THE COMMUNITY

BIRD CAM PROJECT

The Landing Bird Cam has provided a literal bird's eye view of nesting raptors since its installation in 2014. Bald eagles, great horned owls, and osprey have raised their young in the massive nest, to the delight of online observers worldwide. The bird cam is a cooperative effort of Skidaway Audubon, Cornell University and other partners.

BUTTERFLY GARDENS

Volunteer gardeners, fondly nicknamed Garden Gnomes, planted and maintain several butterfly gardens along out-of-play areas of the golf courses, as part of Audubon’s Nature Notices initiative. Signs

identify these areas as critical habitat for the dwindling number of monarch butterflies. There are also signs in other, naturalized, out-of-play areas describing the wildlife they support.

DIAMONDBACK TURTLE RESCUE

When identifying attractive areas for burying eggs, female diamondback terrapins have chosen sand bunkers, especially on the Plantation course, to lay their eggs. To avoid destruction of the eggs from predators, especially crows and raccoons, golfers or trap maintenance, a local resident was trained by a UGA Marine Extension naturalist and operates under his DNR permit to rescue the eggs. When born, each turtle is escorted by a human companion to the marsh.

TERRAPIN RESCUE

Skidaway Audubon runs the largest terrapin rescue project on the East Coast. Volunteers rescue terrapin eggs from the golf course sand traps to save them from hungry predators. The turtle eggs are then placed in two hatcheries for incubation on the island, and later the baby diamondbacks are released into the marshes. In 2022, the rescue team successfully released more than 3,500 hatchlings.

LAGOON REEFS

The Landings fish also have an improved habitat environment with the addition of artificial reefs to our lagoons. Through the efforts of the Skidaway Chapter of the Coastal Conservation Association, reefs constructed of used tires, weighted to sink and identified on the surface by duck decoys have been placed in freshwater lagoons to provide haven for small fish against larger fish and diving bird predators.

GOLF BALL RETRIEVAL AND LAGOON AND FISH HEALTH

Every few years The Landings Club engages a firm to retrieve golf balls from the lagoons. The Club receives an amount for each ball collected which are then reconditioned and sold by dealers. In 2001, the Club stopped mechanical retrieval of golf balls since the method damaged lagoon bottoms, vegetation and the shoreline and only allowed manual retrieval by a diver. Retrieval is not allowed from February to May, the spawning months for bass and bluegills.

LANDINGS BIRD LIFE

The golf courses and the rest of the Landings are a mecca for birdlife, with hundreds of species observed each year, from sparrows to bald eagles, herons, egrets, anhingas and, ducks. Another effective resource for the island is Orphaned Bird Care, comprised of one licensed, professional woman and another in training, who rehabilitate injured and trapped birds plus abandoned chicks so they can be released back into the wild. This work is partially financed by donations from Landings residents and organizations.

RECYCLING RECEPTACLES

All six golf courses are outfitted with attractive recycling bins for metal and plastic. Their contents are collected and deposited at the Community Recycling Center by Club staff. Part of the funds generated by the most recent Audubon Tournament financed this project. The Club, in turn, installed additional bins at the tennis center and pools.

CONTINUING EDUCATION

Skidaway Audubon’s Continuing Education Committee periodically offers seminars on topics including shorebirds, right whales, coyotes, raptors and reptiles, featuring interesting guest speakers.

BEYOND THE COMMUNITY

Although the Club had some unique needs and the Club’s specific initiatives and efforts remain a focus, The Landings on Skidaway reaches out to the wider community on environmental issues. In 2007 the program expanded to include both Club and community. Shortly thereafter, the committee secured not-for-profit status and became Skidaway Audubon, which provides continued leadership and support for the Club’s programs while developing new initiatives for the community with strong cooperation from The Landings Association.

Among them are:

THE BOTTLE BRIGADE

The Landings Community has been divided into 35 geographic areas. Dozens of volunteers canvass weekly to pick up any loose trash. With the help of volunteers, a former thee-acre sod farm for The Club has been converted into

a community garden. Two hundred plots can be rented by residents for flower and mostly vegetable gardens. A sturdy fence enclosure keeps out browsing animals while an irrigation system supplies water. The Skidaway Audubon pavilion in its center provides a covered space for education and social gatherings.

TALLOW TREE REMOVAL

Increasing presence of the Chinese Tallow Tree, a Priority One Invasive Species in Georgia, has threatened the diversity of maritime forest. Groups of residents were organized to physically halt the spread of the tree with an educational blitz focused on identification and removal on residential property. The program grew to include systematic purging of Tallows from the six golf courses and the common property of The Landings Association by two groups of volunteers.

WATER CONSERVATION

Similar to The Landings Club golf courses, homeowner property is threatened by a potential serious reduction in water supply. The conservation of water has become a signature issue for Skidaway Audubon, initially addressed by a water conservation panel which highlighted the severity of the problem and actions that must be taken to preserve water supply.

www.skidawayaudubon.org

Includes information from a 2014 report by Dick Miller, Chairman of Audubon Committee at The Landings at Skidaway from 1999-2001

EDUCATION SPOTLIGHT Bridging The Gap

A Long Island Club’s Foundation Introduces Youth to Golf, Good Work … And A Sustainable Life

Something special continues to play out on a storied strand of grass, heather and sand on the South Fork of Long Island known as The Bridge, a private golf club founded in 2002 by a former Wall Street trader, lifelong car lover, art collector, author and philanthropist named Bob Rubin. From day one Rubin committed to making The Bridge as sustainable as possible, and in 2005 it became the first Long Island private club to earn Audubon International Signature Sanctuary Certification, which it retains to this day.

Today the 520-acre former racetrack boasts a waiting list for members drawn to its reputation as the “counterculture” club in the otherwise staid and tradition-drenched Hamptons. Rees Jones’ original design has been reworked and updated over the years, including an extensive bunker overhaul in 2014, earning Top 100 rankings along the way, but one thing hasn’t changed—the club’s, and Rubin’s, dedication to environmental sustainability.

In 2015, Rubin broke big ground yet again.

With buy-in from his membership, he started The Bridge Golf Foundation (BGF, also known as Bridge Golf Harlem), which Rubin describes as “an intensive, year-round, multi-year program, organized around the game of golf but with a strong academic component, for underserved young men of color.” Today he shares Executive Director duties with his wife, Stéphane Samuel, who is also Director of Academics. “She runs the Foundation day to day, Rubin said. “I mostly focus on keeping the lights on now.”

Enrollees spend three hours after each high school day at the Foundation’s headquarters on 116th Street in Harlem for 90 minutes of academics and 90 minutes honing golf skills on state-of-the-art simulators. In season they shuttle twice a week to metropolitan area munis for the real thing. Each year, all students spend several summer weeks at the club, living in dorms built especially for them, learning the game under the tutelage of longtime Director of Golf Michael Sweeney, and gaining valuable interpersonal

Inner-city youth like these men not only learn how to play golf through The Bridge Golf Foundation, but how courses are managed and sustained, too.

One of The Bridge Golf Club’s blend-in-the-landscape bunkers also houses an art sculpture. Art abounds around the property.

skills working in the club’s golf operations as well as caddying for members. Some students take a shine to the course maintenance and agronomy side of the club’s operation, working alongside Superintendent Gregg Stanley to learn the stewardship ropes.

When Kat Welch, Director of Signature Sanctuary Certification, and Environmental Program Specialist Sarah Honan made a site visit to The Bridge in early 2023, the Foundation, and the club’s overarching culture of inclusion and education, made a big impression.

“I was thoroughly impressed by their efforts, not only environmentally, but also with the unique outreach and education program they have in place,” Welch said. “They are an incredible Signature Sanctuary Certification example, and a great partner.”

As summer wound down, Rubin discussed his and the club’s unwavering commitment to sustainability, and why The Bridge Golf Foundation is so special, so important, and such a worthy model for golf-based youth education within and beyond the private club sector.

Your partnership with Audubon International goes back to 2005, when the course was originally certified. How would you describe that partnership?

We were the first bronze Signature course in New York, and we’re very proud of that for many reasons. For instance, our nitrogen levels are very low — the state standard is 10 and our self-imposed standard is two. Our wildlife is off the charts. We have a family of about six foxes. We have an osprey cam online. You can see their family on the seventh hole. We’ve tried to introduce quail because they were once native to this area.

The Bridge is an unusual piece of property, with large contiguous areas of low bush. You don’t get that in the suburbs. You get protected forests, but you don’t get that kind of intermediate terrain, which was here before they planted all the woodlot forests. So it’s a unique parcel. The maintained turf is only 80 acres of 520 acres — 15 percent of the property is maintained and the rest of it is completely natural. I have a full brake/full gas philosophy to landscaping the Bridge. Either it’s

maintained or it’s not maintained. It’s not “kind of” maintained. There’s nothing here that’s not native.

We cut out a lot of overgrowth last winter. The golf course is a lot more linksy now. We have big waste bunkers that we didn’t have before, but the sand was there. We didn’t have to create them, we just dug down to them, and it improved the golf experience. Gregg Stanley even left select pines and low bush cover in strategic spots inside some of the vast bunkers, which has a great “scenographic” impact.

It’s a very minimalist golf course. It has 16 and a half “found” holes and one and a half “created” holes. I know it’s become a cliché of golf architecture, but we moved little or no earth. There’s 155 feet of natural elevation change on the property!

When Audubon International visited there last spring to finalize the course’s recertification, they were quite impressed with the Foundation and the educational work you do there. How does this tie into what they do, the whole sustainability side? How does stewardship tie in with the entire scope of your education?

The Bridge Golf Foundation is a sports-based youth development program. So there’s the sport, which is the carrot, and there’s the academic preparation, which is the stick, and then there’s the whole piece of character development—preparing these young men for the bigger world out there.

Living and studying at The Bridge has at least two outcomes. One, they become better golfers. Two, they learn life skills. Through internship they put money in their savings accounts. They learn to live away from home in a dormitory and take care of their food and their shelter. They also learn how to interact with people in a professional environment, interacting with members and staff, and they’re cultivating relationships with members, who reciprocate with offers of internships and hopefully jobs. They’ll do much better in job interviews. That’s how it works.

How many interns on property this year?

We had 25 in total including our college students who return as counselors, but a dozen at any one

time. One of them, Steevens Remelus, an avid gardener, interned for our superintendent, Gregg Stanley. He volunteers at an urban farm on Randall’s Island in New York City. He is interested in nature, so instead of putting him on the golf operation the whole time he was here, he worked with Gregg to learn about how we grow grass, how we maintain the course, and set it up, and irrigate it.

How does the Bridge Foundation integrate the natural environment, on and off the golf course, into the students’ learning experience?

They enjoy going to the beach. They play golf outdoors during the year. They go to what are essentially public parks—Mosholu, Dunwoodie, Split Rock, other muni courses in and around the boroughs. We do a park cleanup in New York and help organize some community service. Some of them go to schools that have community service requirements. We go to several different parks in and around Harlem to work out before they do their indoor golf instruction. We do cleanup and interact with community organizers—the 116th street cleanup, for instance. We’re instilling in them a custodial sense of their environment and their local parks.

How did your organization fare during the Covid-19 shutdown?

We were a Covid success story because you could play golf during Covid. We were probably the only sports-based youth development operation open during the height of the lockdown. We were remote every day. We had people from all walks of life talking to them. We tried to keep it interesting online, which is hard because they had other online school commitments. But we thought we did a pretty good job of holding their attention.

Going back to the golf course maintenance side, how many kids get involved in that? They want to see how water is distributed and how mowing patterns are and how wildlife is taken care of?

We have a few kids who have shown an interest in that. When a student shows interest, we take

notice. We would love to send some of our current high schoolers to turf management programs in college. Golf is a multi-billion-dollar industry, with equipment, golf course operations, but also turf management. We encourage that.

Do you hear intimations outside the club that other clubs want to take on something like this, and use The Bridge Golf Foundation as a model?

A film by The Golfers Journal in 2022 prompted a couple of inquiries. One from St. Louis, for example. It’s a great idea, but it’s a lot of elbow grease. My wife and I work very hard at this.

You don’t even really need to own a golf course to do it. Having a golf club that partners with you is good, but if you went to another inner-city location, you could have a local muni and a Topgolf, and a PGA pro who wants to give back and have a high school golf team in an urban setting, which is what we do. There’s a lot of focus on HBCU [Historically Black College and University] golf teams—high visibility activity and fundraising. But where do the players come from? They’ve got to come from high schools. The barriers to entry are lower. The costs are lower. If you want to play golf in college, you should play it in high school.

Eight years into this cycle, what will close the circle for you as you follow the kids as they go out into the world, would it be like a couple of kids coming back and working there eventually?

We have that already. It’s an important element of the foundation that the older kids help the younger kids. So they come back as counselors in training. We follow them through college. A couple of them spent the whole summer working for us. Our oldest kids are about to graduate from college next June, and we follow them. We help them. We provide funding for college because full rides are never full rides. And when it’s time for them to get a job, we’ll help with that. So what will close the circle is to see them enter the workforce and raise families.

And hopefully keep golf as part of their life.

They all play. We’re a sports-based youth development group, and we’re growing. We’re seeking support outside of the Bridge family. But we’re not selling a big growth story or a big rinse and repeat story. We’re selling a “deep dive with a small number of kids” story.

This interview has been edited and organized for clarity and continuity.

Sustainable Indoors and Out

Many factors go into attaining Audubon International Signature Sanctuary Certification. The Bridge Golf Club reached that milestone in 2005 and has maintained its Bronze certification status for nearly two decades. Here founder Bob Rubin shares a few examples of sustainable practices that are woven into the club’s DNA.

TURF MANAGEMENT

• Just 80 acres of maintained turf on 550 acres

• Overall landscaping policy is “very simple: either maintained golf grasses (15 percent of overall site) or fully natural — no flowers or other imported nonnative plants”

WATER

• The Bridge has pulled about 6,500 samples since its original construction under a tripartite water monitoring agreement with Suffolk County Water Authority and The Town of Southampton, New York

• The New York State standard for nitrogen in drinking water standard is 10 ppm. The Bridge self-imposed standard is just 2 ppm, “which we easily beat most of the time.”

• The clubhouse’s various roof shapes collect rainwater and divert to biofilters, which return the filtered water to the aquifer.

• Installed water stations and banned plastic water bottles at the club.

• Closed loop wash system at cart barn

PLANTS &WILDLIFE

• Active Osprey nest and a live YouTube Osprey camera

• Club is home to hawks, turtles, snakes, turkeys and countless other wildlife

• Active wildlife corridors throughout property

• Working to reintroduce quail to the site—The Bridge’s low bush cover is perfect for them and increasingly rare in the Hamptons

• Priority is native plants and diversity is extensive: bayberry, low bush blueberry, heath, bluestem, fescues, specimen pitch pine (a vulnerable and rare variety of pine)

CLUBHOUSE & BUILDING CONSTRUCTION

• All building materials recyclable LED lighting

• All of the main spaces in the clubhouse have transom windows allowing for maximum natural light

• Student housing built from modular shipping containers

Steevens Remelus, a current Bridge Golf Foundation student, joins the club’s crew to learn about course maintenance and sustainable practices.

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