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HomeNewsMontgomery Bell State Park Golf Course Named Groundwater Guardian Green Site

Montgomery Bell State Park Golf Course Named Groundwater Guardian Green Site

Joins Bear Trace at Harrison Bay and Paris Landing as third site in Tennessee

Burns, TN – Environment and Conservation Commissioner Jim Fyke is pleased to announce the Montgomery Bell State Park Frank G. Clement Golf Course’s recent recognition as a Groundwater Guardian Green site. The Montgomery Bell course joins Bear Trace at Harrison Bay State Park and the Paris Landing course as the only three sites in Tennessee with this designation from The Groundwater Foundation.

Groundwater Guardian Green Sites are places with significant green space – such as golf courses, ball fields, educational campuses and office parks – that implement effective groundwater and surface water practices to protect water quality. Montgomery Bell’s Frank G. Clement Golf Course documented an array of groundwater-friendly practices to earn this exclusive designation. The golf course is actively protecting local water supplies by optimizing fertilizer applications, applying natural organic products when possible and creating vegetative buffer areas around wetlands and shorelines.

In an effort to protect surrounding waterways and groundwater supplies, Montgomery Bell’s golf course has utilized native plants and buffer zones. Unique to this particular effort is the construction of a greenhouse. Partnering with the Friends of Montgomery Bell State Park, the greenhouse also is part of the park’s effort to pursue Audubon certification.  Overall, these decisions have reduced fertilizer and chemical inputs into the environment and also decreased the amount of water required to irrigate these areas.

“A large amount of the state’s public water supply is provided from groundwater and improving upon its protection is important to the safety and health of all Tennesseans,” Fyke said. “I commend Jeff Kuhns, Darrell Hartsfield and the entire team at the Montgomery Bell State Park’s golf course for their innovative green strategies and conservation leadership. Their hard work serves as an example of how good environmental stewardship can truly make a difference.”

Another example of Montgomery Bell’s environmental practices includes the park’s eight environmentally friendly villas, which were unveiled in October 2009. These contemporary accommodations feature energy efficient and environmentally responsible practices such as a geothermal systems, compact fluorescent light bulbs, outdoor furniture made from recycled plastic and indoor / outdoor recycling equipment.

Groundwater Guardian Green Sites is a program administered by The Groundwater Foundation, a non-profit organization based in Lincoln, Nebraska, with a mission to educate and motivate the public to care about and for groundwater. The program began in 2007 to recognize good stewards of groundwater by encouraging managers of highly managed green spaces to implement, measure and document their groundwater-friendly practices.  The Groundwater Guardian Green Site program is supported by Cargill, the Nebraska Environmental Trust, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 7 Pollution Prevention Program, and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. To learn more, please visit www.groundwater.org/gg/greensites.html.

Montgomery Bell State Park is located in Burns, Tennessee, just seven miles east of Dickson. Coupled with outstanding accommodations and recreational opportunities, the 3,782-acre park is home to fox, squirrel, raccoon, opossum, deer and a wide variety of birds and wildflowers. For additional information about the park, please call toll free at 800-250-8613 or visit the Web site at www.tnstateparks.com/MontgomeryBell

Montgomery Bell State Park Golf Course was built in 1973 and redesigned by designer Gary Roger Baird in 1988. With its fairways lined with hardwood trees and four bunkers to protect the green, Hole #2 is a 446-yard long par 5 and considered the course’s signature hole. To learn more about this beautiful golf course, please visit www.tngolftrail.net/traditionals/montgomerybell/.

Tennessee’s 53 state parks offer diverse natural, recreational and cultural experiences for individuals, families or business and professional groups. State park features range from pristine natural areas to 18-hole championship golf courses.  For a free brochure about Tennessee State Parks, call toll free 1-888-867-2757. For additional information, visit our Web site at www.tnstateparks.com.

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