LOGAN — Utah State University’s Logan campus has been recognized with a 2020 Green Star grand award from the Professional Grounds Management Society.
The Green Star awards salute the grounds superintendent responsible for maintaining a well-manicured landscape year-round and bring national recognition to grounds maintained with a high degree of excellence. This is USU’s first ever Green Star award.
“We are very excited to earn the Grand award,” Shane Richards, USU landscape operations and maintenance manager, said in a statement. “The landscape crew works very hard and their response to the odd year with COVID has been amazing. With the challenges we have had, they never missed a beat and found more ways to be creative, efficient, and more productive than ever before. In our industry, this award is a pretty high honor and the landscape crew is very deserving.”
USU received the grand award, the highest tier awarded by the organization, in the University and College Grounds category for a midsize university of 200 acres to 499 acres. The categories used for judging are turf management, landscape, safety, challenges and sustainable practices. University sizes are split into four categories — small, midsize, large and urban. Three merit, 14 honor and three grand awards in eight categories were awarded.
During the virtual awards ceremony, the master of ceremonies highlighted several features of USU’s campus, including the colorful approach to the Alumni House, and the maintenance of the 6-acre university quad, which during the summer had the American flag mowed into the surface. The flag measured 470 feet by 240 feet, with each of the 50 stars measuring 14 feet. Also noted were the he 50,000 to 60,000 flowers grown each year in the campus greenhouse.