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Audubon Certification
Awarded For St. James Plantation's Fourth Golf Course
Press
Release
May 29, 2007 – St. James,
North Carolina
(NC) - Audubon Staff Ecologist Shawn Williams announced today that
The Reserve Club course at St. James Plantation, the number
one-selling community in the Coastal Carolinas, has been designated
as a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary.
"The Reserve Club at St. James
Plantation has shown a strong commitment to its environmental
program," Williams said. "They are to be commended for preserving
the natural heritage of the area by protecting the local watershed
and providing a sanctuary for wildlife."
The Nicklaus Design Reserve
Club course, which opened in July 2006, becomes just the 21st course
in North Carolina to become Audubon certified. St. James' other
three golf courses, The Founders Club, The Members Club and The
Players Club, are also on the list, having received certification in
2000.
Jay Atkinson, president of St.
James Properties, LLC, said Audubon's conservation programs offer a
good blueprint for maintaining golf courses.
"Audubon's programs are a
smart, common sense approach that uses less water, fewer chemicals
and is a win-win for both the golf course owner and the
environment," Atkinson said.
Williams said certification
requires golf courses to demonstrate that they are maintaining a
high degree of environmental quality in a number of areas. These
include:
- Environmental Planning
- Wildlife and Habitat
Management
- Chemical Use Reduction
and Safety
- Water Conservation
- Water Quality Management
- Outreach and Education
Audubon International tailors
programs to address each course's unique situations. At St. James
Plantation, the staff must pay particular attention to the area's
wetlands. The Plantation also uses reclaimed water for irrigation, a
practice that recharges the water table and improves the wetlands by
reducing the nutrients in runoff.
Other practices St. James
Plantation practices that have drawn praise from Audubon include:
- The stocking of grass
eating carp in the golf course ponds, which helps to control
algae, thus reducing chemical applications.
- Testing the soil and
tissue of the grass plants, which helps to precisely determine
the fertility needs of the turf. With this knowledge, the
correct amount of nutrients can be applied, thus preventing
excess chemicals from leaching into the groundwater or running
off into the ponds.
- Recycling of aluminum
cans, pesticide containers and seed bags.
- The erection of over 100
bluebird and bat houses, which encourage natural pest control.
St. James Plantation is a
master-planned community located on North Carolina's coast, near the
confluence of the Cape Fear River, Intracoastal Waterway and the
Atlantic Ocean. For more information, visit their web site at
www.stjamesplantation.com
or call (800) 245-3871.
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