Audubon International Signature Programs
Frequently Asked Questions

What are the Audubon Signature Programs?

The Audubon Signature Programs are education and certification programs that provide comprehensive environmental planning assistance to new developments.  The programs help landowners, developers, and managers to follow sustainable resource management principles in a comprehensive manner when developing and then managing properties.

The programs aim to integrate environmental protection and improvement - focusing on wildlife, water, waste, energy, and pollution prevention - with the economic and social objectives for new developments. The Audubon Signature Programs' long-term goal is to foster a stewardship ethic that leads landowners and managers, consultants, and the community to internalize environmental, rather than just economic, costs and benefits in their decision making and to apply these environmental values routinely in land management.

What are the benefits of certification as an Audubon International Signature Sanctuary?

• "Green appeal" marketing edge- Certified Audubon Signature properties have a market advantage in attracting the growing number of people looking for "green" developments in which to live and recreate.  Certification offers a distinct marketing edge over the competition that often supports increased or faster sales, increased sales prices or member fees, and lower marketing and holding costs.
   
• Operation and maintenance cost savings- Most members find that in achieving certification, they have learned and put into practice more cost-effective ways to develop and manage their properties, thus saving money, as well as natural resources. 
   
• Reduced risk- Following best management practices outlined in the NMRP reduces the risk of harm and potential liability from the use of hazardous materials and reduces the potential for on- and off-site pollution.  Reduced risks in turn lower insurance and worker's compensation costs, potential for adverse regulatory action and harmful publicity, and lost worker time.
   
• Recognition for environmental leadership- Certified Audubon Signature Sanctuaries gain local, national, and international recognition for leadership in environmental stewardship.  A certified Signature property stands as a model providing encouragement and good example for other landowners and managers, consultants and the community at large to make future land management decisions based on the environment, not just the economic, values of the land.
   
• Environmental protection and enhancement- Owners and managers of certified Audubon Signature properties can take great pride in doing their part to further sustainable resource management and protect and preserve the environment for this and future generations.

I have been involved with the following seven Audubon International Signature Courses.

WCI Old Palm
Located 2.5-miles from the Arthur B. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge and east of Lake Okeechobee near Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, is the golf community of Old Palm.  A major constraint of this property is an onsite  well field  with 13 potable water wells operated by Seacoast Utilities.  Historically the site was undeveloped but impacted by disturbances such as cattle and horse grazing.  More than 50-acres of the approximately 650-acre community have been set aside as preserve areas, including one at the north end of the community with dedicated tortoise fencing to provide a contiguous wildlife corridor.  Approximately 75% of the landscaped common areas are comprised of native plantings that are drought tolerant and consequently require less water.  Specially engineered phytozones in the community lakes, along with littoral plantings, allow for natural filtration areas.

To meet the green building criteria, Old Palm built energy efficient homes with superior HERS (Home Energy Rate Score) ratings where each home is 20% more energy efficient than national energy efficiency standards and 10% more efficient than Florida code requirements.  These green practices extend to the championship Raymond Floyd-designed golf course.  Seashore paspalum turfgrass, a state-of-the-art hybrid grass, was installed because it fares better in heat, cold, and shade, as well as varied soil conditions, and can be watered with fresh, brackish, or salt water.

WCI Hammock Bay Golf & Country Club
A trip to Florida is not complete without traveling to the Ten Thousand Islands area south of Marco Island and Naples.  Located southwest of the last exit from I-75 before entering the Big Cypress National Preserve, WCI Communities, Inc.'s (WCI) new Hammock Bay Golf & Country Club now occupies the site of the former Marco Shores Golf Club.  Featuring basically flat topography with small elevation changes throughout and bordered on the south with mangrove preserves and McIlvane Bay, the 237-acre project in southern Collier County lies in a filled and developed island in a matrix of mangrove swamp near the Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve.

The brackish waters of estuarine tidal areas around the southern Florida peninsula favor the dominant mangrove shrub ecological community found in the project's locale.  In light of the surrounding waters and ecology, Hammock Bay Golf & Country Club is the first project in Florida to use SeaDwarf Seashore Paspalum, which performs well with fresh or brackish irrigation water, on greens, tees and fairways.  The salt-tolerant SeaDwarf also requires 50 percent less water and 75 percent less nitrogen than traditional Bermuda grasses.  In addition, WCI transplanted approximately 800 sabal palms from another of its communities to enhance landscaping.  Golf course plantings are 100 percent native and include seagrape, beach sunflower, railroad wine, sea oats and Spartina grasses.  Only a small number of salt-tolerant plant species comprise the littoral vegetation in the mucky/ brackish lakes, where salinity levels are relatively high, including eel grass, salt marsh cordgrass, and black needle rush.

The Peter Jacobsen/Jim Hardy-designed 18-hole golf course uses both effluent wastewater and salt water for irrigation.  The design added 23 acres of new lakes and wetlands. The majority of the created wetlands are littoral "phytozones," designed to treat storm water runoff from the golf course, as well as from a portion of the new residential areas.  Because residential drainage can adversely affect wetlands, water bodies, and wildlife, drainage from roofs, patios, driveways, and other hard surfaces is directed to lawn or landscape areas for filtration. Turfgrasses used within the community are limited to either St. Augustine or Bahia grass.  Hammock Bay Golf & Country Club was certified as a Gold Signature Sustainable Development on October 27, 2004. 

WCI Lost Key Golf Club
The Southern Coastal Plain natural region is also home to Lost Key, a 287-acre golf course located within WCI Communities' Lost Key Golf and Beach Club.  Set in the northern Florida panhandle area near the Intracoastal Waterway, the site's dominant ecological communities include pine flatwoods, salt marsh, and freshwater wetlands.  In addition to the pre-existing 50 acres of wetlands, newly created wetlands are managed to maximize biological diversity.  The dominant plant community on the property is largely contiguous forest wetland.  Wildlife corridors allow the native bobcat, fox, and deer passage through the property.  Lost Key is the first Audubon International member  to become a Certified Silver Audubon Signature Sanctuary.

WCI Pelican Preserve
Pelican Preserve  is a 1,017-acre multi-phase active adult residential community in Lee County, Fl.   The project, developed by WCI Communities, Inc., contemplates 2,400 residential units in the future on what were once agricultural fields.  It features The Club at Pelican Preserve (formerly Solana Golf Club), a Chip Powell-designed 18-hole championship course, as well as other amenities.  Public access and education opportunities focus primarily on the main wetland preserve and include a path and board walk featuring interpretive information within large kiosks.  As part of the approval process for the project, 412 acres in Hendry County were donated to Friends of Endangered Wildlife and restored for Florida panther habitat.  The residential irrigation system has a master control that allows for complete management of water usage and can be used for water conservation.  Residential and common areas also have rain sensors and automatic shutoffs.  This community is the first location to use Audubon International approved landscape mulch made from waste wood and no cypress.  On August 20, 2003, Pelican Preserve became the first golf community in the world to become certified as a Gold Audubon Signature Sustainable Development.

WCI Raptor Bay Golf Club
Raptor Bay is an 18 hole Raymond Floyd-designed golf course on 510 acres located in Lee County, Florida and owned by WCI Communities, Inc.  Situated next to Estero Bay, a Marine Aquatic Preserve, a majority of the site consists of vegetated upland areas, along with freshwater and brackish water wetlands.  Halfway Creek, an "Outstanding Florida Waterway," traverses the eastern portion of the property, where an active bald eagle's nest and associated buffer zone occupy 52 acres of the site.  There are 125 acres of wetlands and buffers, 22 acres of lakes, with 22 additional acres of  special zones where plants are used specifically to capture, hold and filter golf course runoff.  Forty-two percent of the site contains natural habitat under conservation easement.   Dominant vegetative communities in the more than 200 acres of native vegetation and nature preserve are pine flatwoods, xeric oak, and cypress.  One unique aspect of the course design is the use of native sand and palms incorporated into waste bunkers.  These bunkers are large areas of sand used here  in place of golf course roughs.  Raptor Bay Golf Club is the first resort golf course in the world certified as a Gold Signature Sanctuary.

WCI-Tuscany Reserve Golf Club
Interwoven among 60-acres of lakes throughout the 185-acre site near Naples, Florida, Tuscany Reserve Golf Club features an 18-hole private, Greg Norman/Pete Dye-designed golf course with amenities including a clubhouse, maintenance facility, and 9-acre practice range.  Built on abandoned tomato fields, the front 9 holes resemble open and rolling parkland with widely scattered trees.  The back 9 holes and representative of Italy's rural farm land.  In an effort to conserve water, Sea Dwarf Paspalum turfgrass was used from tee to green.  It requires up to 50% less water for irrigation and 75% less nitrogen for fertilization than traditionally used Bermuda grass.  In addition, it may be irrigated with nearly any quality water from potable and effluent to seawater.   A thirty acre restoration area near holes 12 and 13 showcases healthy native plant species. Three existing wetland/upland areas were preserved as well.

WCI Venetian Golf  and River Club
Venetian Golf and River Club, located in Venice, Sarasota County, Florida is an 1100-acre property situated on land historically used for pasture, which includes small wetland pockets and very few trees.  A riparian corridor follows along the Myakka River, a designated Florida Wild and Scenic River.  The 18-hole Chip Powell-designed golf course was created on  159 acres, or 15% of the site.   Of the 1100 acres, 663 are devoted to golf course, lakes, wetlands, conservation areas, and a planned 70-acre nature park.  In addition to a 75-acre Myakka River buffer, 108 acres of wetlands will be preserved (10% of the site).  The Myakka River buffer averages 500 feet and, in total, the open spaces account for approximately 500 acres, or 50% of the site.  Preserving the river corridor that is currently populated with natural plant and wildlife communities is among the key sustainable resource management strategies for the property.  One goal is to provide for non-intrusive use of these natural ecosystems for passive recreation and wildlife viewing by  integrating the  native plantings and wildlife habitat into the human-centered part of the project.  In addition, each of eight completed homes plus four model homes have been certified through the Florida Green Building Coalition as Florida Green Homes.  Venetian Golf and River Club was certified as a Gold Audubon Signature Sustainable Development on March 31, 2004.