PR Seeks Audubon Validation

BY DAVE PERRY, TUCSON LOCAL MEDIA CONTRIBUTOR, Printed in the Explorer Newspaper

Golfers are not the only creatures drawn to Oro Valley’s gleaming Pusch Ridge nine hole course.

Bobcats, snakes, bats, coyotes, javelina, the occasional bear, a bighorn ram photographed on the #1 tee box, egrets, “a blue heron or two, lots of ducks, and fish” dwell and thrive on the course astride the Santa Catalina Mountains, according to Carolyn Weinig, a golfer and member of Friends of Pusch Ridge Golf.

The Friends, who have worked to re-open and keep open the golf course that surrounds El Conquistador Tucson, now want to demonstrate golf ’s broader contribution.

To “add prestige and environmental value to the Oro Valley community,” they are seeking Audubon International Signature Sanctuary Certification for the Pusch Ridge 9. El Conquistador Golf and the town of Oro Valley are partnering with the Friends in pursuit of the designation.

Audubon International has developed standard environmental management practices that are generally applicable to all golf courses. It examines a golf course’s water and chemical use, habitat enhancement, public education efforts, and other factors in recognizing a course for its “tailored approach to environmental stewardship,” according to its website.

It’s “like getting a third party,” an organization that has “nothing to do with golf,” to certify that golf course caretakers are “good stewards of the environment,” said Darryl Janisse, general manager of El Conquistador Golf, which operates the town’s 45 holes of play.

“It shows our strong commitment to taking care of the environment,” conserving water, and minimizing the use of chemicals, Janisse said.

“It shows the public we care.”

Certification can take two years, and costs money. Funds are being raised, and volunteers are being organized. Photographers are being asked to inventory wildlife and plants. Carpenters and crafters may build and place homes for bats, owls, and other birds. Gardeners may create a space to attract butterflies. A renewed emphasis on native plants is a duty for director of agronomy Jason Wolf, who has helped two other golf courses achieve Audubon status.

Janisse, Wolf and Weinig are members of a Pusch Ridge Audubon project resource advisory group, along with Oro Valley Parks and Recreation Director Roz Epting, Dan Talsma of the Friends’ board, and volunteers Jim Schilling, and DeeAnn and Peter Leuzinger. The group has completed and submitted to Audubon International an initial, 28-page site assessment and environmental plan for the Pusch Ridge Golf Course. Significant work remains to reach certification.

The advisory board, which meets monthly, has identified 16 projects intended “to give certification a jump start,” Weinig said.

Along with bird houses and butterfly gardens, “we might build different habitats ... get the right (native) plant species,” and support plant and animal species that depend on the golf course, Janisse said.

Through signage and public interaction, the advisory group wants to demonstrate wise practices and show “the things we do to conserve water,” Weinig said.

The Pusch Ridge 9, which is closed in the summer, is the only one among Oro Valley’s three publicly operated courses that is irrigated with potable water.

“There’s a lot to look at, and a lot to do,” Weinig said. “We need help. We want to draw attention to this project, we want to get sponsors, and get the community involved, not just golfers.” People can reach out to puschaudubon@gmail.com. The website is friendsofpuschridgegolf.org.

Much of the work “is going to fall on” agronomist Wolf, Weinig said. Janisse agreed; he describes Wolf as “the most important person” in the process. “He’s fantastic.”

In general, golf course superintendents are “great stewards” of resources because

“water’s expensive,” Janisse said. So are chemicals. “We’re already good stewards in that area.”

Within El Conquistador Golf ’s Oro Valley portfolio, the Pusch Ridge 9 is the only course proposed for Audubon certification.

The 18-hole Canada and Conquistador courses along La Canada Drive are “really intertwined” with housing, Janisse explained. “It’s fairway, desert, then housing and walls. There’s more desert up at Pusch Ridge. It’s quieter.” On the mountains, “you’re going to see more animal life out there.”

At Pusch Ridge, “six holes have homes on them,” said Weinig, who lives near the #4 green. “Those people that live on it, and I’m one of them, just love the fact we get to look at a green golf course part of the year.”

Beyond the neighbors, Weinig said, “we want this course to be appreciated by the community as an asset. Improving the value of the Pusch Ridge Golf Course improves the value to all of the community.

“We never want it to be closed again.”