Aspen Golf Club recognized for environmental excellence

ASPEN – The Aspen Golf Club has again been designated as a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary through Audubon International.

“To reach certification, we had to demonstrate that we are maintaining a very high degree of environmental quality in planning, wildlife and habitat management, outreach and education, chemical use reduction and water conservation,” said Steve Aitken, director of the Aspen Golf Club.

The course has been a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary since 2000. At that time, it was one of only 200 in the world and the fifth in Colorado to achieve the recognition. This year, Aspen Golf Club is one of 816 courses worldwide to receive the honor.

City officials say the golf course has been continually striving to find ways to make its operations environmentally friendly. Recently the city installed a state-of-the-art irrigation system which saves more than 30 million gallons of water annually.