If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make any noise?
That's the question Ken Schumacher, a golf course superintendent in southeastern Michigan, asked himself when he wrote and implemented a BMP program then didn't tell anyone about it.
"I wrote a BMP program after collecting bits and pieces from what other superintendents and chapters were doing," said Schumacher, superintendent at Bedford Hills Golf Club in Temperance, Michigan since 1993. "Finally, I asked myself 'what good is this if no one knows about it?' "
So, eventually, Schumacher, right, decided to share his work with municipal leaders in Bedford Township. Before he realized what he had done, he had been recruited to serve on the board of the township's green initiative committee. And his work on the golf course has helped reinforce the environmental stewardship efforts that so many golf course superintendents excel at but struggle to share with others outside the industry.
Now, Schumacher, 46, attends not only green committee meetings, but township meetings and more as well, but his success at the local level illustrates the challenges that face golf course superintendents when trying to convince others of their stewardship work on behalf of the environment.
His BMP program includes fertilizer and chemical use, water management and wetting agents, recycling, conversion to LED lights and more. And he is able to prove what he is doing through regular testing of soil and water.
"When I wrote our BMP program, I used information from 10 other places, and when I wrote it all down I discovered more than half of what we were doing we already had been doing for years," Schumacher said. "I thought if no one knows about, what good is it? How can you say you are not polluting if you don't have the data to prove it? Now, we have the data to prove it.
"A lot of people (in local government) are anti-fertilizer. When I brought it to the township they asked me to be on the (green initiative) board. It has opened doors for us and it has made it easier to work with the township. We gained business from it."
Schumacher's BMP program has gone a long way in changing the way some in local government think about golf.
"We were a little apprehensive when we heard 'golf course.' When you hear that, you think about generating revenue and cutting expenses," said Al Prieur, Bedford Township Deputy Supervisor.
"Environment is not the first thing you think of when you hear 'golf course.' "
At least some in the township have changed their way of thinking, even if it is just how they think about Schumacher and Bedford Hills. In response to his efforts, the township honored Bedford Hills with its Environmental Excellence Award.
"Ken is very focused on the environment," Prieur said. "What he has done is a real breath of fresh air.
"If you have a golf course that is environmentally friendly, it means you have a golf course that is a good neighbor, and you don't have to worry about what is coming off the golf course to areas around it.
"We are hoping to take what he has done at the golf course and take it to our local businesses."
Although Bedford Hills is in Michigan, the southern edge of the course literally runs along the Ohio state line and the densely populated Toledo metro area. Schumacher even lives in Ohio and spends more time at OTF conferences in Columbus than he does East Lansing.
Don Lawrence has known Schumacher for years. A former OTF president, Lawrence is also an ex-superintendent and a Michigan State turf grad. A sales rep for Advance Turf Solutions, Lawrence believes Schumacher's path is exactly what superintendents should follow to help dispel the notion that they do not water and spray without regard for the ecosystem.
"He only does what is needed where it's needed when it's needed," Lawrence said.
"It speaks highly of him to put himself out in front and be part of that community and be a voice of reason for the golf industry."
There are a lot of golf courses in the Toledo area that includes southeastern Michigan, and although there is no cookie-cutter solution that fits all of them, Schumacher is willing to share his program with anyone who wants to use it as a template on which to build their own program.
"I was surprised the township asked me to be on the board. I wasn't ready to get involved. That was not my intention," Schumacher said.
"I don't want a parade, but I think when someone shows interest you have to tell them what you are doing. To me, this is the future of greenkeeping. If we don't all do this, we're going to die."
