Golf courses frequently are large enough to include wetland areas.  But until recently, the manicured course was the norm.  More natural golf courses are beginning to emerge, but still need advocates to encourage the reduction of chemicals in landscaping, and preservation or restoration of natural and native flora and fauna.

This interview by Golf Digest with Robert Wood, the deputy director of the Wetlands Division, the EPA's representative in the Golf & the Environment Initiative, and an 18-handicap golfer.

Why do wetlands matter on golf courses?

Why shouldn't I be able to fill in the wetland on my golf-course project?
 
Wetlands are a vital part of any aquatic ecosystem. They provide habitat to a wide range of wildlife from fish, shellfish, all the way down to insect communities. Wetlands are the unique habitat for something like 30 percent of all endangered species, and 50 percent of endangered species spend at least part of their life cycle in wetlands. They're very ecologically rich.

To most people, endangered species are things like snow leopards and elephants, but there are more than 1,000 endangered species in the U.S. alone.

That's right. People are not thinking about salamanders or vegetation in a wetland. They're critically important as a habitat. And they're critically important as a filter: We build all this infrastructure to keep water clean, and wetlands provide very much that same kind of cleansing capacity in a natural way. And they provide a buffering capacity for storm events. We saw this very much with the Katrina and Rita storms in the Gulf of Mexico.

Is there a figure for the size of America's wetlands? A lot of the wetlands have disappeared.
The first statistical wetlands status-and-trends report in 1983 estimated the rate of wetland loss from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s at 458,000 acres per year. Wetlands then were largely thought of as a hindrance to development. In the 1991 report, which covered the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, we were still losing wetlands, but the rate had declined to 290,000 acres a year. The third report, from '86 to '97, indicated that the rate of loss was down to 58,500 acres per year. Now the 2006 report, which covers 1998 to 2004, shows that the wetland area actually increased by an average of 32,000 acres per year. This was the first report to show that we were in a period of increasing wetlands. There was, however, some issue with this report over how wetlands were defined.

[Note: The report states that the total area of wetlands in the U.S. in 2004 was 107.7 million acres. Wood goes on to explain that the claim of wetlands growth has been contested. A New York Times story, for instance, explains that over the study period, 523,500 acres of true wetlands, swamps and tidal marshes were lost, but this was offset in the report by gains of 715,300 acres of ponds, including man-made ornamental ponds -- hardly a fair trade.]

To some golfers, wetlands and wild areas are just a nuisance, places where you're going to lose your ball. They'd rather see the golf course mowed from fence line to fence line. What do you say to them?

When you provide a bit of education, you can get a very different answer. You can say, for example, that not mowing certain areas is better for wildlife, better for water quality and allows native vegetation to thrive and maybe prevents an invasive species from moving in. It might change the look of the course a little bit and the way it plays a little bit, maybe not. I'm a golfer, and to me what's intrinsically attractive about the game is that you are essentially in a natural setting. And it's the restrictions and unique features of that natural setting that make a particular course challenging, one that you like and remember and want to go back to. That's been a design principle of golf courses from the beginning. It's part of the game.

One of the influential landscape architects of the last century was Ian McHarg, who was a professor at the University of Pennsylvania. He came out with a book in 1969 called Design with Nature. The audience was really urban planners and landscape architects, but it applies to golf courses, too. It's the tradition of the game, and we're rediscovering that tradition.

READ THE REST AT THE SOURCE: GolfDigest

Appropriate Technology (AT) describes a way of providing for human needs with the least impact on the Earth's finite resources.

When determining if a technology is appropriate for a specific use,  members of the Center for Appropriate Technology (CCAT) examine a number of issues:

Is the technology built locally or use local materials?

Can it be built, or at least maintained, with a minimum of specialized training?

Is its use sustainable over many generations?

Does it cause suffering in its manufacturing or use, human or otherwise, disproportionate to its benefits?

Can we financially afford it?

With answers to these questions, or at least predictions, we try to balance the benefits and harms of a technology to determine if it is appropriate.

Appropriate technology is not a specific item--it's not solar panels, or a greywater marsh, or anything. It's a way of evaluating a technology, a way of thinking about the social, economic, and environmental impacts of introducing a technology into our lives, and a technology may be appropriate in some situations and not in others. As E.F. Schumacher said when he coined the phrase, "AT is technology with a human face."

If you would like a more thorough description of the history of CCAT and four other demonstration cites at universities accross the United States see the following link [PDF 465.6 KB]. It was written by graduate student Kathy Jack under the advisement of Dan Ihara of HSU and the Center for Economic and Environmental Development.

Center for Appropriate Technology
Humboldt State University
Arcata, CA 95521
http://www.humboldt.edu/~ccat/drupal-5/?q=node/5

We don't think of cemeteries as being landscapes of significance in the scheme of things...but they are.  Not only do they cover many thousands of acres in our communities, but the use of toxic materials in coffins also impact the ground water. 

In the Eastern and Southern states, coffins from Civil War times are still leaching lead into the water supply! How we bury our dead today will affect our landscape quality for generations to come.  And there ARE better choices.

Ecoffins: Eco-Friendly, All Natural and Biodegradable Alternatives for Green Burials and Cremation

As more and more American families and communities look for eco-friendly solutions to everything in life, a need remains for greener choices to fulfill the final wishes of loved ones at their time of death.

When William Wainman decided to introduce his company’s Ecoffins to the United States (at the 2007 National Funeral Directors Association International Convention & Exposition last fall) he was not sure how his products would be received. Wainman soon discovered that his timing was right, and that his products fit nicely with a growing need sought after by US funeral professionals.

Sustainable Materials

Ecoffins manufactures their entire product line using only environmentally sustainable material:

Bamboo– not the species consumed by pandas– the ultimate sustainable material, grown and harvested in licensed plantations (when cut down at the root, bamboo takes just 59 days to grow back to full height without the need for replanting);

Pandanus– an environmentally friendly alternative to sea grass (currently under threat from coastal development, dredging and urban expansion);

Willow– cut from bushes known as crowns which remain harvestable for approximately 40 years before they need to be replanted; and

Banana– sheaves come from the trunk of the plant which peel off naturally each year.

For additional information inquiries about EcoffinsUSA, please contact:

EcoffinsUSA
Telluride, Colorado
970-708-9652
www.ecoffinsusa.com

While the following story pertains to agriculture, the same concepts can be applied to urban management of soil...less surface disturbance means less dust and more stable growing environment.



Conservation tillage allows growers to reduce the number of times that tractors are run through their fields, for savings in time, energy and labor. The authors studied how the practice, with and without cover crops, affects yields, dust production and other factors in a cotton-tomato rotation.

Many tillage practices, however, can be a significant production cost, a cause of soil organic matter losses and a source of particulate matter emissions.

On average, 9 to 11 separate tillage related operations, each involving heavy equipment, are conducted during the fall through spring to prepare the soil for summer cropping in most current San Joaquin Valley cotton and tomato production fields. Deep tillage often is used in these systems to alleviate compaction that results from frequent tillage passes and harvest operations.

These operations account for up to 20% of production costs (Carter 1996), and require high energy and increased subsequent effort to prepare seed beds.

The adoption of conservation tillage (CT), or reduced tillage practices, may be a viable means for improving field-crop production systems if their profitability and capacity to conserve natural resources can be demonstrated.

In their many and varied forms, conservation tillage systems aim at reducing primary, intercrop tillage operations such as plowing, disking, ripping and mulching. As a result of these deliberate reductions in tillage, surface residues may accumulate and must be managed, and new techniques for crop establishment must be developed. Despite the potential attractiveness and utility of reduced-tillage production alternatives, conservation tillage adoption rates in agronomic row crops are very low in California, less than 2% (CTIC 2004).

Reasons for California’s low adoption rate include a lack of locally available conservation tillage equipment, inexperience with conservation tillage techniques, the predominance of surface, or gravity, irrigation systems and the fact that the tillage-intensive systems used in the San Joaquin Valley for several decades are generally quite productive (Mitchell et al. 2007).

RESULTS OF THE RESEARCH

The researchers compared standard tillage (ST) and conservation tillage (CT) for tomato and cotton production systems, with winter cover crops (CC) and without (NO), in Five Points, Calif., from 1999 to 2003.

Conservation tillage reduced tractor trips across the field by 50% for tomatoes and 40% for cotton compared to standard tillage.

When averaged over the 2001 to 2003 period (when the conservation tillage systems were established), tomato yields in CTNO were 6 to 8 tons per acre higher than the other treatments.

In cotton, the STNO cotton yields during this period were the highest of all treatments and were 276 pounds per acre higher than the CTNO system.

In-field dust concentrations were also significantly reduced by conservation tillage.

Our results suggest that conservation tillage may be a viable alternative for managing tomato and cotton crops in the San Joaquin Valley, but that fine-tuning of the systems is needed.

by Jeffrey P. Mitchell, Randal J. Southard, Nicholaus M. Madden, Karen M. Klonsky, Juliet B. Baker, Richard L. DeMoura, William R. Horwath, Daniel S. Munk, Jonathan F. Wroble, Kurt J. Hembree, and Wesley W. Wallender

READ THE COMPLETE STORY: California Agriculture

A recent discussion about composters on the GreenYes news group brought the following recommendations about composters.

In my experience, tumblers do not work as well as the manufacturer would like you to think they do !

A couple of reasons, for composting to really happen you need 4 basic needs; Brown (carbon), Green (nitrogen), Water (40%- 60%) & Air. But you also need a strong back a microorganisims. The tumblers is suspended in the air, with air flow all around the bin - this tends to dry the compost out, you will need to monitor and add water more often. I like the fact that a compost pile directly on the ground is in contact with soil micro & macro organisims, which play a huge role in the process of decomposition.

For composting to speed up or excellorate, you need enough material in the mix (critical mass) to get the pile or microbs going (heat up -131 F- 150 F optimum). At those temperatures the organic material is broke down very quickly, also plant pathogens and weed seed are distroyed in the center of the pile. This heat is generated by the microbs (thermophilic) that when comsume or break down a carbon molecule, it releases that energy stored in that molecule. Along with heat they respire water, which then dries the pile out further.

The other problem that will be incountered is the dead weight. When you have 60 gallons of material in a drum, most of the weight will settle, this tends to squeeze out air and all the weight is at the bottom. In order to mix & aereate the pile or the bin, you have to tumble or get that weight at the bottom of that pile, up to the top, several times to mix thoroughly. This can weigh quite a bit and can be hard work. Not to say turning a pile on the ground with a pitch fork is not hard, I just find it difficult and more time consuming to monitor, maintain and a rotate a tumbler.

...and opinion two:

Several years ago, when I worked for the County Extension Office, we established a compost demonstration area with several types of home built and manufactured composting devices. This included a tumbler.

As a general rule, the home built bins worked better and were easier to use than the manufactured ones. We had more problems with the tumbler than any others.

Composting can be as simple as green manure in which you bury food scraps in the soil of a flower or veggie garden, or it can be a large, scientifically designed operation to handle leaves, hay and food scraps gathered from restaurants, etc.

Either way, a little experimenting helps. And asking questions at your local County Extension center can be enlightening. Many of these Department of Agriculture offices also offer instruction sheets and classes to help you get started. Just look up "agricultural extension agent" and your county on search engines to find your local office. They are located in every state (US), and in most counties. Large cities also have offices.

Very helpful information centers!

Where does the term "green" come from...if not from the horticulture field...and the back forty...and the wilderness! 

It’s been said a lot in the past year, but it bears repeating: We are the “original” green industry. But at the same time, we are heavy users of energy, plastic and water. We need to do something about that. We need to work toward lessening the impact our individual businesses have on the environment. And we need to pay attention to our employees and their needs as fellow human beings.

This is “sustainable floriculture.” And we’ve come up with a formal definition of that:

“Producing and selling greenhouse or field crops in a manner that provides a profit for the business, minimizes the impact upon the environment, maximizes employee well-being and benefits the community.”

We hope the industry will adopt this definition simply because there’s so much confusion about what the sustainable movement is all about.  SOURCE: GrowerTalks

Every thinking person has a personal connection with the green part of our planet ... and a right to a personal definition of "green business"...since we all deal with business in one way or another.  Leaders in floriculture are  no exception.  Chris Beytes of Ball Publishing went on to  make his key points about green sustainability.

1) Sustainable floriculture is NOT a destination. It’s a journey, one that’s made up of thousands of small steps over many years. It’s a journey that your children or your staff will continue long after you’re gone.

2) Sustainable floriculture is NOT a feel-good, warm-and-fuzzy exercise. Sustainable floriculture is a way to make money.

I come from an unusual heritage.  My father was a rebel against business and "the love of money".  He believed in  his rebellion so much that he insisted that his family pay the price in terms of educational and  career options -- or lack thereof.  So I realize I have a biased viewpoint -- but when I hear the opposite of what my parents taught me -- that business is all about making money -- I am afraid my father is turniing over in his grave, and I share his concern.

Sustainable business is NOT about making money -- although some money can be exchanged in a respectful manner. Sustainability is more basic than money and wealth.  It's about survival.

We're to the point that survival truly is at stake.  And if a second car, or a bigger house is more important than your children and grandchildren's very survival...maybe the lesson taught a couple thousand years ago hasn't been learned.  Maybe "the love of money" needs to be revisited.

Restorative Habitat

We are past "minimal impact on the environment". We are at the point of numerous ecosystems and species collapsing.  We can no longer be content with a wink and a commitment to "minimal impact". Today's job is restoration of the natural systems because we have pushed them beyond their capacity to restore themselves without our intelligent interference.  Science and politics both are making guesses about how many years we have before the oceans rise -- and how far they will rise.  But they tend to agree that they are already rising.

Weather patterns are changing.  Species are going extinct.  And yet, habitats are still being devastated to grow more coffee, more beef, more hardwoods for elegant furnishings and MacMansions.

The original green industries -- horticulture, forestry, farming, floriculture, landscaping, etc. have the solutions.  They know about organic farming, permaculture, crop rotation, contour farming, integrated pest management, etc.

You know.  We know. The challenge facing us is how loudly we will insist that we implement these sustainable practices -- these common sense practices IMMEDIATELY.  How quickly we will restore our forests and plains and deserts and oceans.

The question for you is:  what can you do today to restore your land?  How close to a fully functional ecosystem can you recreate?  Do your  loved ones deserve that heritage more than they deserve  a new car and an expensive education, or an bigger house?  We are the adults. 

We know better.  And we're responsible adults, right?

"The fact that his efforts are also good for the planet is a nice side benefit."  Nice side benefits just won't cut it any longer.  When your children are drowning, you don't think about nice side benefits -- you act and you give it everything you've got to help them survive.  Our air, our water and our health is that serious.  

Ecosystems affect not only immediate residents -- but everyone in the rural, suburban and urban areas in the vicinity -- the watershed.  Water use has increased with irrigation of both agricultural and residential / commercial properties, and the solution to the Delta's subsidence lies with all those communities, as well.

The California Department of Water Resources - Delta Suisun Marsh Office has offered an intriguing solution to the California Delta's fragile condition:  plant rice.

The Rice Farming Solution

For over 100 years, as the West Delta islands have been reclaimed and farmed, the land (which is primarily made up of peat) has been subsiding. In several places within the West Delta, land has subsided over 25 feet and is continuing to subside at rates of approximately 0.5 to 1 inch per year. As the land subsides, more and more hydraulic pressure is exerted on the levees increasing the risk for levee failure. Millions of dollars are spent every year on maintaining these levee systems to insure the islands are not lost by flooding waters. Nowhere is this protection more important than in the West Delta where islands are used to hold back salty water from the San Francisco Bay, San Pablo Bay, and Suisun Marsh from the relatively clean waters of the San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers.

This “Cork in the Bottle” ensures the quality of water that is paramount for not only human consumption, irrigation, and industrial uses but also the sustainability of many wildlife species within the Delta.

The Department of Water Resources (Department) has participated in studies that show decaying plant matter under certain conditions may not only eliminate the continued subsidence that is occurring, but also accrete plant mass and add land volume.

As part of the photosynthetic process, plants convert atmospheric carbon (CO2) into plant mass, thus fixing carbon and reducing greenhouse gasses. The Department would like to develop project(s) to demonstrate the potential for subsidence reversal and its subsequent benefits.

Rice farming has the potential to provide the Delta ecosystem with the ability to stop and possibly reverse subsidence as well as store carbon as organic matter, while providing local human populations with a potential economic benefit through commercial aspects of farming and carbon credit trading. Generating quantifiable research results that connect rice cultivation with subsidence reversal is a central part of this effort.
However, as a result of the decay of plant matter and other land management activities associated with rice farming, there is a need to develop management practices that eliminate adverse water and air quality impacts. As a result, these land management activities must be analyzed to ensure water and air quality are not adversely impacted and overall potential risk must be considered before these practices are encouraged Delta-wide. An important part of this project will seek to quantify water quality, sediment, nutrient, pollutant loads and fluxes, with a special focus on methyl mercury. Best management practices that foster subsidence reduction and minimize adverse environmental impacts such as increased nutrient and pollutant exports from rice growing areas will be implemented and assessed.

Funding for the Subsidence Solution

The DWR says it will pay for a rice cultivation project to test the theory

The project will also measure water and air quality impacts as well as the overall potential risk from the increased rice farming. The minimum size of the rice growing plot is 300 acres and the required average depth of peat underlying the site is seven feet.

The DWR says it plans to have one funding recipient for a multi-year project lasting up to eight years. with funding  as much as $8 million for this multi year effort.

Local public agencies meeting the criteria as defined in California Water Code Section 12311(a) may apply for funds. Applications for funding will be accepted from reclamation districts meeting the aforementioned criteria. These reclamation districts are encouraged to associate with research entities that may include but are not limited to: academic institutions; federal, state, and local agencies; private consulting firms and entities that are qualified to complete the activities associated with this project. There is also a farming component to this project, which may require partnership with a grower that has rice farming experience.

The minimum size of the rice growing farm plot is 300 acres and the required average depth of peat underlying the study site is 7 feet. Please provide location details in the proposal that ensures these minimum criteria are met.

Proposed work should be described under five main topics with clearly defined research questions and testable hypotheses:

1. rice cultivation/agroecology
2. subsidence reversal and soil carbon dynamics
3. water and air quality impacts/biogeochemistry
4. economy/socio-economic implications
5. management/research recommendations

If you have additional questions or need further clarifications, please contact Mr. Bryan Brock at bpbrock@water.ca.gov or (916) 651-0836. Download the report and application from the Department of Water

Historically, America's community motto for stormwater management has been "conveyance" -- moving water away from the site where it falls as quickly as possible.

In contrast with these long-practiced, expensive approaches, the guiding principle of low impact development approaches is not conveyance; it is "source control and infiltration". LID techniques maximize the area available for absorbing water into prepared soil through infiltration so that runoff volume and pollutant concentrations are reduced.

Low impact development is achieved through a variety of site design and engineered infiltration techniques.

Some of the benefits of low impact development include:

• Groundwater recharge through infiltration of surface water
• Filtration of surface water with natural soils
• Protection of lakes, streams and the ocean from urban and agri runoff
• Meet Clean Water Act requirements for reduced pollutant levels and volume of runoff
• Reduce frequency and severity of floods
• Preserve stream and upland habitats

Retrofit a Parking Lot to increase permeability.

Over sixty-five percent of impervious areas are associated with "habitat for cars". Using porous pavement in parking lots is a simple way to provide infiltration and reduce runoff.

Learn more about Green Parking Lots from California Green Solutions

Master Composting Program by the San Diego Solid Waste Management Department, is people-powered by The Master Composters, a group of volunteers who have undergone an extensive training class in all aspects of the composting process, and then use that information to teach others how to turn their organic wastes into a perfect soil amendment.

Master Composters receive:

1. Extensive training and background material in composting and other alternatives to organics disposal which they can use in their own residence;

2. Additional "continuing education" through semi-regular meetings, field trips, and interaction with others who have different expertise;

3. Experience in speaking to and interacting with groups and individuals with whom they have common interests;

4. Satisfaction in knowing that they are doing their part to alleviate part of the ever-increasing landfill problem

... Resources for Composting listed here:

Waterscaping to Expand and Improve Habitat Quality

Create your own private island! Islandcapes enhance the beauty and biological health of ponds and streams - providing innovative filtration and a lush growing environment for terrestrial plants. Islandscapes offer food and fun for birds, butterflies, dragonflies, fish, frogs and other wildlife.

"Many bodies of water carry an unnaturally high nutrient load, due to runoff containing lawn and garden fertilizers etc.," explains Deb Kitszke of Freedom Ponds. "This can result in a wide range of serious water quality problems. Islandscapes represent a holistic way to mine these nutrients out of the waterway and convert them into a beautiful and wildlife enhancing floating garden habitat."

Biofiltration to Improve Water Quality

Islandscapes will attract beneficial microbes that are most likely already present within your waterway. Your Islandscape will also provide water quality benefits as it filters suspended solids and colloidals from the water. However your island is likely to be even more effective at competing with algae if you dose it with beneficial bacteria.

See examples and read more about floating islands.