New Guide Available to Validate Environmental Stewardship
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New Guide Available to Validate Environmental Stewardship
For more than a year , STMA has dedicated resources to developing Best Management Practices for the Sports Field Manager : A Professional Guide for Environmental Sports Field Management .
This project will be completed and ready for distribution this month . The guide is intended to provide a comprehensive compilation of environmental best practices utilized by sports field managers .
Sections within the guide are customizable by STMA members and affiliated chapters to reflect their state or local government requirements . Chapter members are the most knowledgeable about their state ’ s approaching legislation to customize and then distribute the guide to appropriate legislators . STMA will provide instructions on how to customize various sections and can provide names of knowledgeable consultants who can assist . The guide should be provided to legislative bodies to educate them — proactively now — and in response to impending legislation affecting sports field management . Often legislation is introduced that can negatively impact the ability of sports field managers to provide safe playing surfaces for their athletes . Those introducing the bills are not in our industry ; thus , they are not well informed about the commitment of STMA members to protecting the environment . Chapters and members can follow their state ’ s legislative activity at the National Conference of State Legislatures ( bill information services ) database and easily look up any legislation affecting the environment in their state . There is no charge to search this database .
The guide is also relevant to the constituents served by sports field managers . Athletes , coaches , parents , community members and others will benefit from knowing the environmental stewardship practices that are in place at your facility .
The 100-plus-page guide provides detailed practices organized into the following sections :
Turfgrass Establishment Cultural Practices : Mowing
Cultural Practices : Nutrient Management
Cultural Practices : Irrigation
Cultural Practices : Cultivation and Surface Management
Cultural Practices : Integrated Pest Management
Pesticide Management Sustainable Landscaping Synthetic Turf Maintenance Operations Emergency Preparedness
The affiliated chapter , Mid-Atlantic STMA ( MASTMA ), is the first chapter using the template to customize information for their four-state region . MASTMA has been working in tandem with STMA to create its customized environmental practices guide that can be immediately used to educate state legislators .
This resource was developed by the BMP Task Group , led by consultant Stacey Kingsbury , Task Group Chair Vickie Wallace and staff liaison Kristen Althouse . The Task Group will be engaged throughout 2021 to address any questions that may surface . Task group members include :
Matt Anderson CSFM Jason Bowers , CSFM James Brosnan , Ph . D . Joe Churchill Patrick Coakley , CSFM
46 SportsField Management | March 2021 sportsfieldmanagementonline . com