Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 46.90
Liaison Hannes Gerhardt
Submission Date March 30, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

University of West Georgia
OP-9: Landscape Management

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 2.00 Hannes Gerhardt
Sustainability Director
Department of Geosciences
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Total campus area (i.e. the total amount of land within the institutional boundary):
673 Acres

Figures required to calculate the total area of managed grounds:
Area (double-counting is not allowed)
Area managed in accordance with an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program that uses a four-tiered approach 530 Acres
Area managed in accordance with an organic land care standard or sustainable landscape management program that has eliminated the use of inorganic fertilizers and chemical pesticides, fungicides and herbicides in favor of ecologically preferable materials 0 Acres
Area managed using conventional landscape management practices (which may include some IPM principles or techniques) 0 Acres
Total area of managed grounds 530 Acres

A brief description of any land excluded from the area of managed grounds (e.g. the footprint of buildings and impervious surfaces, experimental agricultural land, areas that are not regularly managed or maintained):

Any area considered not vegetated is excluded from the managed grounds.


Percentage of grounds managed in accordance with an IPM program:
100

A copy of the IPM plan or program:
A brief description of the IPM program:

Uploaded.


Percentage of grounds managed in accordance with an organic program:
0

A brief description of the organic land standard or landscape management program that has eliminated the use of inorganic fertilizers and chemical pesticides, fungicides and herbicides in favor of ecologically preferable materials:
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A brief description of the institution's approach to plant stewardship:

Plantings on the University campus are utilized for aesthetic value, temperature moderation, soil stabilization, and habitat structure.

Native and/or adaptable non-native plantings are utilized throughout the campus. These plants are chosen for their pest tolerance, drought tolerance, and overall hardiness as well as the aesthetic value.


A brief description of the institution's approach to hydrology and water use:

In addition to our "no net tree loss" policy, which helps prevent erosion, there are 2 rain gardens on campus and our policy is to use slow-release fertilizer on the general lawn areas to prevent unnecessary fertilizer run-off during rain.

FERTILIZER: General lawn areas are fertilized with a slow release fertilizer with phosphorus and potassium applied as recommended and over seeded in the fall. There are no herbicides used on this turf.

RAIN-GARDENS: One garden is locaed in a high student-traffic area to increase student engagement and enjoyment of natural places. The other rain garden captures the water through gutters from our Planning and Development office and puts it back into the soil instead of straight onto the parking lot.

IRRIGATION: Our entire irrigation program on campus is monitored by the CalSense control program. This includes a rain gauge for adjusting program timing to account for natural rain fall.

RETENTION: The university maintains several retention ponds throughout the campus to hold storm water runoff and return the water to the soil profile and surrounding natural areas, diverting from sewer pipes.


A brief description of the institution's approach to materials management and waste minimization (e.g. composting and/or mulching on-site waste):

According to the UWG Tree Policy there is to be no net loss in tree canopy. For every 1" of tree caliber lost to new construction, building/landscape renovation, storm damage, or disease, 1" of tree caliber shall be planted back to replace the loss.

The annual leaf drop in the fall happens over a several month period from early September through December. The leaves are managed over approximately 25 acres. During the earlier part of ‘Leaf Season’ the staff blows leaves onto lawn areas and run mowers over the leaves to grind them to a smaller size that will decompose on site and add nutrient back to the soil.

During the late part of the ‘Leaf Season’, usually during December, our staff will remove bulk leaves from lawn areas and parking lots and put them in a leaf mold compost site located in our natural area. The resulting composted leaf mold is used in the landscape as a soil conditioner and in our community garden for soil enrichment, weed control, and moisture control. The amount of leaf mold generated each year is approximately 12.5 tons with approximately 12.5 tons of leaves either returned to the landscape by mowing or blowing into natural areas.


A brief description of the institution's approach to energy-efficient landscape design:
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A brief description of other sustainable landscape management practices employed by the institution (e.g. use of environmentally preferable landscaping materials, initiatives to reduce the impacts of ice and snow removal, wildfire prevention):

n/a


The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.