The Colorado Open Space Alliance recently awarded a Blue Grama Award to the city of Aurora's (Colo.) Saddle Rock Golf Course, with GCSAA CGCS Joe McCleary, for its outdoor recreation/environmental education program.

The award recognizes the successful environmental education efforts of Saddle Rock, under the leadership of McCleary and Mary Ann Bonnell, senior natural resources specialist with the city.

One of the primary goals of management and operations at Saddle Rock GC has been the preservation of significant natural resources, specifically native grasslands and shrublands.

During the course's planning phase, several sites and species were identified by environmental professionals as ecologically significant. These areas and species were set aside for protection during construction and are managed for preservation and educational purposes now that the course is open to the public. From the total of 240 acres, 125 acres are considered undisturbed; and 25 acres are considered ecologically significant and are used as outdoor classrooms for teaching botany and resource conservation.

By protecting and preserving a significant portion of the total acreage as undisturbed and preserved open space, Saddle Rock demonstrates how best management practices for open space management can be applied to a golf course setting. Preserving these spaces saves the golf division money by preserving water, minimizing the use of pesticides and herbicides; and reducing emissions through reduced mowing areas. Using the preserved sites as teaching areas spreads the word about conserving natives and smart resource planning.

Currently, Saddle Rock partners include CSU Extension (Native Plant Master Course), Denver Botanic Gardens (educational opportunities and seed sharing), Colorado Rock Garden Society (educational opportunities and seed sharing), Waste Management (community recycling center), Environmental Professionals (species inventories and monitoring) and Aurora's Channel 8 (native plant and resource conservation PSAs). In addition, a number of agencies including Arapahoe County, City of Broomfield, City of Boulder, Denver Natural Areas, Colorado State Parks, and Jefferson County Open Space have sent staff to Saddle Rock for native plant identification training through the Native Plant Master course at Saddle Rock.