Monthly Feature Hosted By:
	David Phipps, GCSAA Class A member at Stone Creek Golf Club, Oregon City, Ore.

Completing an environmental project can be a monumental task, especially if it involves outside groups and agencies. Eastmoreland Golf Course in Portland, Oregon has benefited from the cooperation of a local watershed council which was determined to improve a local stream that flows through the golf course and is within the city limits.

Built in 1917, Eastmoreland is Portland’s oldest public golf course and was designed by Chandler Egan, a former national amateur golf champion and leading golf course architect. One of its central features is a lake that was formed by damming a creek which was a tributary to a productive spawning stream. This tributary was also rerouted through culverts which prevent fish passage.

Johnson Creek Watershed Council partnered with Eastmoreland and many other local groups to obtain grants for a stream restoration project that would provide salmon habitat within the tributary. This is a great case study that demonstrates the value of working with your local watershed council to help solve a problem. Steve Hoiland was able to rely upon the experience of the watershed council to write a grant and organize the many volunteer efforts it took to complete the project. As you read the case study you will discover the complexity and extensive work that went into bringing this project to completion. The project began in 1994 and the project’s end was proclaimed in 2006 as the improvements were realized by the presence of returning Coho salmon.

Steve will receive .25 service points for his comments on Noah Jenkins’ case study. If you are part of a study and would like to see it on the EDGE please let us know. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at dcphipps@bctonline.com or Mark Johnson, GCSAA’s Senior Manager, Environmental Programs.

November's Guest:
	Stephen A. Hoiland, GCSAA Class A member at Eastmoreland Golf Course, Portland, Ore.

I have always been passionate about wildlife and enjoy the beauty of natural surroundings. When I first came to Eastmoreland Golf Course in 1985, the course was as beautiful to me as any course could ever be. But in all the beauty of the golf course I felt that something was lacking. The grass was manicured to all of the creeks’ and lakes’ edges and there wasn’t a dead branch as habitat to be found. The creeks were regularly scoured out. So, there wasn’t any aquatic habitat and everything was pristine. While this scenario met the expectations of most golfers at the time, I felt we had an obligation to not only have excellent playing conditions but to provide the local wildlife with a healthy environment to thrive in.

I became the golf course superintendent in 1989 and one of the first things I did was to provide a 5-10 foot wide buffer zone surrounding the lakes and creeks. While some of the regular golfers saw this as a lack of maintenance, I knew that in the long-run this would help us restore some of the natural areas. That was the beginning of many changes to come. Were they ever in for a surprise!

As we developed ideas for long-term restorations we felt we needed help in making our ideas happen. About that time Johnson Creek Watershed Council showed an interest in doing projects on the course, which was the beginning of a long and positive relationship. We provided the site and with their never ending ambition and fortitude they went through the permit processes, planning, and implementation of the restoration projects.

In his case study, Noah Jenkins has done an outstanding job describing the various projects involved in the restorations. We have been fortunate with the restoration plantings as I have received lots of long-term commitments from various groups, including Johnson Creek Watershed Council, the City of Portland’s Environmental Services, and Portland General Electric. Their crews will come in and remove invasive species, mulch small plantings, and help make sure the sites are maturing as planned. Without the ongoing dedication of these groups we would be hard pressed to keep up with the maintenance requirements.

By partnering with several different groups we are able to keep the areas at an adequately maintained level without relying on pesticides. In 1999, we developed a water quality monitoring program. This monitoring program ensures that our integrated pest management (I.P.M.) and best management practices (B.M.P.) programs are on track.  The monitoring program lets us know that our maintenance practices are sound and that we are not contributing to any degradation of the stream. In 2005, we started a fertilizer program called the Greenway Maintenance Program. We hope it will lead us into the future using environmentally sound practices.

I believe that the projects have a positive impact on the streams. We have seen results by witnessing salmon spawning in the restored areas and we have observed an increase in many different types of wildlife. If you subscribe to the “If you build it, they will come” theory, then it has been a tremendous success. We are looking forward to many more projects with Johnson Creek Watershed Council. I still have ideas for improvements and will be looking for partners to help us reach our goals. While we do let the golfers play the course, the natural areas belong to all the creatures that inhabit it. We provide both golf and habitat in beautiful downtown Portland, Oregon.