Overall Rating Reporter
Overall Score
Liaison Carly Thibodeau
Submission Date March 7, 2025

STARS v3.0

College of the Holy Cross
OP-4: Ecologically Managed Grounds

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete Reporter Carly Thibodeau
Director of Sustainability
Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

4.1 Organic landscaping/grounds services

Do the institution’s landscaping/grounds services employ a written Integrated Pest Management (IPM) protocol that follows a four-tiered approach?:
Yes

Online location of the institution’s IPM protocol:
https://crossworks.holycross.edu/campus_arboretum/2/

Copy of the institution’s IPM protocol:
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Do the institution’s landscaping/grounds services publish, on at least an annual basis, an inventory of the synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides, and herbicides used on campus grounds?:
Yes

Online location of the institution’s chemical inventory:
---

Copy of the institution’s most recent chemical inventory:
2024_Pesticide_Use_Report.xls

Do the institution’s landscaping/grounds services manage one or more sites or pilot projects without the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides, or herbicides?:
Yes

Narrative and/or website URL providing an overview of the institution’s organic landscaping/grounds policies and practices:
We have several areas throughout campus and off campus that we consider our Natural areas.  These areas are not treated with any fertilizer or chemicals of any kind.  We are also in the process of building some Pollinator Gardens and Natural areas throughout Campus.  In addition to our IPM, we also use the Best Management Practices (BMP's) for Lawn and Landscape as well as BMP's for our Athletic Turf from the New England Sports Turf Managers Association for the Northeast, in which our Grounds Supervisor Brendan Connor was part of writing and putting together.  We take the IPM/BMP approach very seriously in our daily maintenance.  
 
We are a registered Arboretum and the Campus has roughly 6,000 trees and over 115 species throughout the 176 plus acres of campus property.  We are currently in the process of updating and writing a 4th edition of the Arboretum. 

Have the institution’s landscaping/grounds services eliminated their use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides, and herbicides?:
No

Online resource affirming the organic status of the institution’s landscaping/grounds services:
---

Document affirming the organic status of the institution’s landscaping/grounds services:
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The Reporting Tool will automatically calculate the following figure:

Points earned for indicator OP 4.1:
1.50

4.2 Ratio of ecologically managed green space to total managed green space

Total area of managed green space:
71.22 Hectares

Area protected or restored:
12.14 Hectares

Area of tree canopy:
30.35 Hectares

Area managed organically:
20.23 Hectares

The Reporting Tool will automatically calculate the following four figures:

Ratio of areas protected or restored to total managed green space:
0.17

Ratio of tree canopy to total managed green space:
0.43

Ratio of areas managed organically to total managed green space:
0.28

Points earned for indicator OP 4.2:
1.65

Optional documentation

Notes about the information provided for this credit:

For written language on our IPM, please see page 60 of the Arboretum PDF linked above. As part of our IPM program, we follow the guidelines that the University of  Massachusetts Amherst has put in place as a six step approach to IPM. Several members of the Grounds staff are graduates of UMass and are very familiar with the IPM program. 


Additional documentation for this credit:
Turf__Integrated_Pest_Managent.pdf

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.