(Source: EnviroLogic Resources)
GreenCloudUSA has announced the availability of its IPM Plan development tool and the BMP Generator that help park managers create operational and environmental stewardship documentation for parks in their park systems. GreenCloudUSA, the Portland, Oregon, developer of the highly successful website GreenGolfUsa.com for golf courses, launched GreenParksUSA.com to help the parks and recreation industry document its efforts to go green.
“We have created a set of web-based tools that are useful and easy for park and turf managers to use. With the release of parks and recreation department versions of both our tools, the key foundation documents for any environmental stewardship program are only a mouse click away. The information entered by the park manager at the website makes these documents directly applicable to their properties,” according to GreenCloudUSA and EnviroLogic Resources President Tom Calabrese. The site offers free interactive planning tools, as well as resources to explore environmental stewardship information, he said.
The key features of the site are the GreenParksUSA Integrated Pest Management (IPM) tool and the Best Management Practices (BMP) Generator, which were developed based on environmental stewardship guidelines prepared for the Oregon Golf Course Superintendents Association (OGCSA) by EnviroLogic Resources. The IPM tool also draws on other information sources, such as the City of Portland’s Parks Department Pest Management Policy, which complies with the federal Endangered Species Act.
“Parks and Recreation departments are leaders of the environmental stewardship movement and they provide facilities that serve the recreational needs of the public while preserving habitats that are friendly to wildlife and protective of water resources,” Calabrese said. “These web-based tools will make it easier, faster, and less expensive for park managers to create and maintain plans for each of their parks,” he said. To use the GreenParksUSA tools, a park manager enters data about individual parks in the park system – from the acres of turf, natural arera, or general use area maintained, to the types of fungal, weed, and insect pests present – and the tools turn out complete IPM plans. “We hope by making this service available, more parks and recreation departments will document the environmental stewardship efforts at their parks,” Calabrese added.
In addition to the IPM planning too, the GreenParksUSA site includes a regularly updated list of electronic resources, such as current turfgrass research, regulatory updates, and a link to download Stewardship Guidelines that have been developed by several agencies in the U.S.
About EnviroLogic Resources
EnviroLogic Resources, Inc., is an environmental and water sources consulting firm specializing in water quality, water supply, and environmental cleanup. The firm currently provides services to about 25 golf course and parks in the Pacific Northwest and recently prepared the 2nd Edition of the OGCSA Environmental Stewardship Guidelines for the Oregon and Western Washington Golf Course Superintendents Associations. The technical resources at EnviroLogic Resources back GreenCloudUSA.
EnviroLogic Resources is a member of the ASGCA Patron Program. View its “Patron Page” here.
To read more Industry News, please visit here.