Some 30 students and Hamilton community members joined with the College's sustainability coordinators to plant around 400 trees to reforest the golf course on April 21.
What was once Hamilton’s golf course is now a golf practice facility with many unused acres that need trees. According to the sustainability coordinators the environmental impact is substantial, with approximately one ton of carbon annually sequestered. Last April volunteers planted 500 trees on three acres of the old golf course.
Sustainability Coordinator Jay Carhart ’21 said the Sunday volunteers planted sycamore, red maple, red oak, American chestnut, black walnut, hickory shagbark, wild black cherry, and red pine trees.
The idea for a golf course reforestation was first discussed during the summer of 2016 when Emma Karsten ‘18 and Olivia Shehan ‘18 were sustainability interns. They drafted up a report of the cost/benefits of such an event as part of their work that summer and the idea came to fruition as HSC grew in numbers and built a strong relationship with the Facilities Management department.
