Wildlife Inventory List Offers Many Advantages

As golf courses move towards attaining and demonstrating environmental accountability it is important that they not only celebrate this move but also get everyone involved. One way of doing this is by creating a wildlife inventory list.

A wildlife inventory list will indicate to everyone what type of wildlife can be seen on the property. One copy of the list should be posted in the shop for all maintenance staff to fill out when they witness an animal on the property. The list should contain information about the wildlife viewing including the animal that was spotted, where is was spotted, the date and time of day.

Posting a list in the maintenance shop will help to get all staff involved in the environmental activities at the course. This will give an opportunity to newer staff to become involved in the team building opportunity that can exist with this type of activity.

Another copy of the list should be posted at the clubhouse. Posting a list at the clubhouse for golfers to fill out will allow them to take some type of ownership in your evironmental program.

A wildlife inventory list can be a good way to grow the game. There are many people who do not play golf but whose spouse does. If the non-playing spouse found out that there is an opportunity to view some wildlife at the course perhaps they will come out and play.

Once the list begins to repeat itself and it seems that no new wildlife species are being added to the list, the course should create a poster or a document that shows all the different wildlife that frequent the property. The poster could include pictures of each the animals seen on the property along with some information about the species. By creating a poster and framing it in the clubhouse the course can create a very nice piece of educaitonal art that will show a committment to the environment.

A document such as a brochure that will detail the different types of wildlife that inhabit the course can be used as marketing material for the club. Make sure that a mailing of the brochure goes out to people throughout the community to let everyone know what is happening.

This is another opportunity to market the golf course as well as the environmental benefits provided by golf courses. There are a number of anti-golfers out there who believe that golf courses are bad for the environment and this may be one way to demonstrate the positive attributes of your facility.