Hampshire College
OP-9: Landscape Management

Wooded areas, approximately 680 acres, are not actively maintained except for informal trail maintenance.

Hampshire College is committed to using Integrated Pest Management (IPM), an effective and sustainable approach to managing structural pests, across all areas of campus. IPM uses information on the life cycle of pests and their interaction with the environment to manage pest damage with the least hazard to people, property, and the environment. IPM pest controls include cultural, physical, biological, and chemical methods. Cultural: Avoidance of situations that create favorable conditions for pests (e.g., sanitation) Physical: Removal of insects at various stages when numbers permit Biological: Use of beneficial biological agents that control growth of pests (generally not used for structural control) Chemical: Use of pesticides including organic, natural, or inorganic materials Over-the-counter pesticides, with the exception of mosquito/tick repellent, are not permitted to be used on campus without permission. On other areas of the campus, pesticides are not used. Please see attached plan.

In 2013, Hampshire stopped mowing about nine acres of lawn, converting them into managed meadowlands. Areas near the College's main entrance are included. Initially seeded with wildflowers, these meadows are designed for natural succession and to provide habitat for pollinators, birds, and microfauna (bugs). We use no fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides, or herbicides on this land. They are still mowed once a year to keep invasives at bay.

All new landscape plantings on campus are native plants. The Community Garden was re-designed with native fruit trees, berries, grape vines, wildflowers and grasses. There are also native wild edible and medicinal plants. Ongoing since 2013, a 15-acre parcel was managed as a grassland bird habitat, with haying allowed after July 15. Previously, one or two unrestricted cuttings were allowed in late spring or early summer. In 2015, Hampshire College partnered with the Kestrel Land Trust, Massachusetts Energy and Environmental Affairs, and the Town of Hadley to permanently protect 46 acres of the Mount Holyoke Range, which is part of Hampshire's 800 acre campus.

Hampshire College uses natural buffer strips in runoff areas, and uses best practices plans in stormwater management.

The College does not bag grass trimmings. They remain in place as they are cut. All leaves from raking and other organic materials are composted on site and are used as organic amendments on the farm.

A large traffic circle and parking area was pulled up in 2014 and made into two fields, removing cars from the heart of campus and returning it to pedestrian access. One field was planted with grass, the other with native wildflowers. Hampshire has ceased mowing nine acres of campus land to create ecologically-diverse meadows that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, create wildlife and plant habitats, produce savings on grounds-keeping costs, and provide teaching, learning, and research opportunities.

A path from campus to the nearest grocery store, adjacent to one of the large solar fields, was paved using pervious pavement. Hampshire College uses magnesium chloride snow melt as a safer alternative to rock salt.

The Hampshire Farm Center currently includes 15 acres of vegetable crops, and 85 acres of pasture and hay production for a small herd of heritage-breed Dutch Belted dairy cows. We also have a brood of egg-laying hens, a drove of pigs, a pair of heritage-breed sheep, and several hives of bees. The farm is operated following USDA organic guidelines: vegetables are grown with organic fertilizers and no conventional pesticides; production crops are rotated with nitrogen-fixing cover crops; beef and dairy cows are pasture raised in summer and fed hay in winter; pork is milk-fed; chickens are pastured in summer and cage-free in winter, and fed organically. Organic practices go beyond integrated pest management on the farm. Crop rotation to create a more diverse environment, making it harder for pest populations to build up. Physical cultivation to control weeds (no herbicides). Organic pesticides to control tomato blight (copper). Organic pesticides to control caterpillars on some crops and apple orchards.