The Ridge at Castle Pines North Environmental Golf Course Management

Environmental Programs Update - Spring 2010

2010-04-29T12:55:00.000-07:00

This post serves to update you on the Environmental happenings at The Ridge. We will also be refreshing your memory as to the programs and systems in place and the "why" we are involved in them.

Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses

The Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses is an award winning education and certification program that helps golf courses protect our environment and preserve the natural heritage of the game of golf. By helping people enhance the valuable natural areas and wildlife habitats that golf courses provide, improve efficiency, and minimize potentially harmful impacts of golf course operations, the program serves as vital resource for golf courses. The Audubon program also assists golf courses and golf course developments in providing wildlife habitat, protecting, water quality, and improving overall environmental performance.

Since joining the Audubon program we have accomplished the following:

Reduced our overall maintained turf acreage by two acres - therefore saving on water, fertilizer, labor, and fuel!
Constructed blue bird nest boxes
Been recognized for Environmental Assessment and Planning
Been certified in Water Conservation
Completed a required case study as a part of our certification process

EPAR Environmental Management System

EPAR is a web-based set of processes and practices that enable our organization to reduce its environmental impacts and increase its operating efficiency.
In working with EPAR, we have set the following as our club’s policy: Incorporate environmental responsibility and accountability into every aspect of our operation. Ensure all staff is aware of this Policy. Establish and maintain an environmental management system designed to meet or go beyond regulatory requirements. We will also encourage our contractors and suppliers to achieve our standards. Maintain monitoring and reporting systems to audit and report on our environmental performance by promoting continual improvement to achieve our environmental objectives and targets. Communicate with our community and interested parties on our environmental performance. Provide our staff with environmental educational and training programs to ensure their commitment to environmental responsibility. Identify opportunities to prevent pollution, minimize waste, save energy and conserve natural resources. Annually review this Policy.

Since implementing this program we have developed numerous standard operating procedures and action plans, perform initial training of the staff, and reduced our overall energy usage.

Mitigation

2009-11-30T12:49:00.000-08:00

Mitigation could be defined as the attempt to offset potential adverse effects of human activity on the environment. This includes the effects of water runoff from the developments in which we all live. Fortunately, within The Ridge at Castle Pines property are located two water mitigation ponds that were constructed to take water runoff from local roads, homes, driveways, and yards. Holes 2 and 5 are the locations of these ponds. The foremost reason for creating these ponds was to reduce the risk of erosion from water moving too fast off of the surrounding hardscape. These ponds take a great deal of water and contain an overflow structure that only allows a minimal amount of water to continue down the watershed. Second, the ponds, along with the cattails and surrounding grasses, serve to provide a wonderful opportunity to increase the biodiversity of the local ecosystem. Imagine the birds, amphibians, and mammals that utilize the ponds for homes as well as a food and drinking source.

Double-crested Cormorants

2009-07-12T21:01:00.000-07:00

As near as I can tell, we have a few new additions to The Ridge at Castle Pines North. Double-crested cormorants!!!! After six years of Canada geese and Mallards ducks, it's pretty exciting to see a pair of these beautiful birds frequenting holes 2 and 16 ponds. I hope to see them nesting next spring. This a true testament to the diversity of life within our ponds. I believe much of their diet is coming from small goldfish that have been reproducing rapidly in recent years. Read below on the Colorado Department of Wildlife's write-up on the species.

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Description: Double-crested cormorants have long, thin necks and a large, rounded, orange throat pouch. Adults are black while immature birds are light brown with pale throat and chest areas. Males and females are similar in appearance. They have a straight bill that is hooked at the tip. During the breeding season, adults develop a double crest of two tufts, generally white, curving back from behind their eyes. While wading, the cormorant has such a low profile it may look like a periscope sticking up out of the water. They are usually silent, except for pig-like grunting calls in the nesting colony. They reach a length of 29 to 36 inches with a wingspread of 54 inches. Usually, they weigh around 4 to 4.25 pounds but can grow to over six pounds. Double-crested cormorants are often seen perched with their wings spread out. To reduce buoyancy for diving, cormorants lack waterproofing oils. After fishing, the cormorant must hold its wings open in the sun and breeze to dry. Other names for the double-breasted cormorant are: crow-duck, Farallon (Pacific Coast) cormorant, Florida (South) cormorant, lawyer, white-crested cormorant and Taunton turkey (New England).
Range: They have the widest range and greatest adaptability to habitat of any North American cormorant. They are the only species found in the interior of the North American continent. Cormorants are generally found on lakes and reservoirs in eastern Colorado in the summer. A few have been documented at higher elevations including some at MacFarlane Reservoir in North Park, Antero Reservoir in South Park and Eastdale Reservoir in the San Luis Valley. Most birds migrate to Texas or Mexico, but a few remain in Colorado in winter.
Habitat: They breed on islands along the coast and around deep, inland lakes where fish are abundant. They generally require trees for nesting but do well on treeless islands such as those in the Gulf of California.
Diet: Double-crested cormorants dive and swim around in pursuit of prey, generally to depths of five to 25 feet below the water’s surface. They usually stay under less than 30 seconds but can stay submerged up to 70 seconds. Their diet consists of fish, salamanders, spider crabs, shrimp, crayfish, some reptiles, mollusks and sea worms.
Reproduction: Double-crested cormorants build large, shallow nests on the ground or in trees. The male and female both participate, and it takes an average of four days to build the nest. The male builds the foundation, and he will bring material in for the female to continue building. The male will add material to the nest throughout the season. Old nests are often rebuilt, and the same nest may be used for at least four years. When they are built in trees, nests are constructed out of twigs, roots, weeds, vines, and plant debris; on the ground and rocks, seaweed and trash are used. It has been found that some nests incorporate pocket combs, feathers, pocketknives, hairpins and men’s pipes. The female will lay two to seven chalky-blue eggs between April and July, and both parents will take turns incubating them for 24 to 25 days. The young are fed regurgitated food by reaching into the parent’s gullet or by picking up disgorged food. When they are three to four weeks of age, the young wander from the nest, gather in bands, and move through the entire colony to socialize.

Swainson's Hawk Nesting

2009-04-29T07:28:00.000-07:00

If you have golfed The Ridge in recent years you may have noticed a Swainson's hawks nest to the left of hole #1. Each year, this couple turns out 2-3 young hawks which leave the nest in search of finding food on their own. Most of their hunting is done close to hole #1 and hole #9. I am happy to announce that I believe that one of those juvenile hawks has found a mate and chose to nest right off of hole #18. Imagine, out of ALL the trees in the forest it's a tree that's within 100 yards of the clubhouse. While observing the male and female making trips to and fro, I noticed the local crows are not to happy about the new residents. Each time the hawks take-off, crows are hot in pursuit, harassing the hawks. Below is a summary of a nesting site in California. I would think that the hawks at The Ridge have a similar timeline.

The Swainson’s hawks that you see here returned from their wintering grounds (probably Mexico, but possibly as far south as Argentina) at the end of March. The female is the darker of the two; the male can be readily identified by the large white patch on its face, chin and throat, while the female has almost no white on its head. The female is also larger than the male (which is normal) although it is difficult to see the size difference at the nest.

Since arriving back at their nest site, they’ve been constructing their nest, mating, and defending their territory from rivals (other Swainson’s hawks), competitors (owls and other hawks) and hostiles (crows). The female began laying eggs last week and will lay/has laid up to four eggs (probably 2 or 3), each egg being laid 2 days apart. If successful, the eggs will hatch in 4 weeks. The female is primarily responsible for incubation, although the male will take over for short periods after bringing food back for the female. She usually leaves the nest to eat, and to stretch her wings.

After the young hatch, the female remains the primary caregiver, feeding, defending and shading the young. The male is responsible for finding prey for the entire family. Both will defend the nest/young from the air, attacking potential predators. In just 6 short weeks the young will have grown to the size and weight of the adults, and will be ready to fly. In the final weeks, the young will spend hours flapping their wings from the nest and branches around the nest, learning to fly, and the feeling of flight.

Source:http://www.audublog.org/?p=1506

Click on this LINK for more information on the Swainson's hawk.

Your Help!

2009-03-17T12:48:00.000-07:00

In cooperation with our Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program guidelines, we are updating our current wildlife invetory. I am posting this to enlist your help in determining what species of birds and animals that have been sighted on property. If you know or someone you know would like to contribute to our updating efforts, please shoot me an email at dsoltvedt@troongolf.com.

Environmental Management System

2009-01-06T07:36:00.000-08:00

What's an EMS? I short it's a set of processes and practices that enable an organization to reduce its environmental impacts and increase its operating efficiency. (taken from http://www.epa.gov/). EMS implementation and maintenance requires a significant amount of time, resource, and planning. Some, but not all, of the practices include developing standard operating procedures, action plans, environmental auditing, environmental risk assessment, training and mentoring, performance reporting, and infrastructure design. While many of these processes are already in place already, we are always looking for new and improved ways to increase our operating efficiencies and reduce our environmental impacts. Our current EMS is based off of International Standardization's Organization 14001:2004 which gives the requirements for environmental management systems and confirms its global relevance for organizations wishing to operate in an environmentally sustainable manner.

A Fresh Look

2008-12-12T12:02:00.000-08:00

I have started this blog to keep the pass holders, guest, and associates of The Ridge at Castle Pines up-to-date on the environmental initiatives that we are taking part in. First and foremost, I want to make everyone aware of our policy with which we operate out of. From disposing of used oil to reducing our energy use, our goal is to have the practices and procedures we do on a daily basis flow through the following policy statement:

ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY

The Ridge at Castle Pines North exists to enhance the lives of both guest and employees of the facility. Situated on 212 acres of native habitat and open space, the property is valued as a sensitive environmental ecosystem. We are committed to proactively managing our interaction with this environment by establishing and maintaining standards of environmental excellence.

Our club’s policy is to:

Incorporate environmental responsibilities and accountabilities into every aspect of our operations.

Ensure all staff and contractors are aware of this Policy.

Establish and maintain an environmental management system designed to meet or go beyond regulatory requirements. We will also encourage our contractors and suppliers to achieve our standards.

Maintain monitoring and reporting systems to audit and report on our environmental performance by promoting continual improvement to achieve our environmental objectives and targets.

Communicate with our community and interested parties on our environmental performance.

Provide our staff with environmental educational and training programs to ensure their commitment to environmental responsibility.

Identify opportunities to prevent pollution, minimise waste, save energy and conserve natural resources.

Annually review this Policy.

The Club’s senior management and all staff are responsible for ensuring this Policy is implemented.