June 2005

• Feedback from both American Planning Association (APA) and ASLA participants in the joint ASLA/APA Lobby Day has been very positive. EVP Somerville will be meeting with APA Executive Director Paul Farmer in the next month to discuss future collaborations.
  
  
• ASLA attended a meeting regarding “The State of The National Landscape Conservation System: A First Assessment,” a report is being prepared by the Wilderness Society and The World Resources Institute. The report will be published later this summer and will include detailed findings, conclusions, and a technical report with underlying data.
  
  
• There is a widespread expectation that the House and Senate conference committee will soon complete work on the transportation bill and that, despite the fact the spending in the bill will be higher than the dollar amount imposed by the President, it will pass back through both houses with veto-proof margins. Government Affairs continues to monitor the state of the legislation in view of ASLA’s legislative priorities.
  
  
• The Senate Appropriation Committee approved the FY 06 Interior Appropriations Bill, which restored some funding to theLand and Water Conservation Fund, which had been all but zeroed out in the House version. The committee provided for $162 million for federal land acquisition and $30 million for the state-side grants program. This is an incremental success for one of ASLA’s top legislative priorities.
  
  
• LAND Online takes a look at some of the major water resource legislation Congress is considering.
  
  
• The 2005 professional awards jury met last weekend and reviewed more than 520 submissions, selecting 33 professional awards, the Landmark Award, and the Community Service Award. The professional awards will be announced on July 11; the Landmark and Community Service Award will be announced in August.
  
  
• The ASLA Firm Finder Business Quarterly will re-launch on June 20 as an e-newsletter with a new design. The newsletter will be emailed to Firm Finder Enhanced Profile subscribers and will include eight to ten articles on practice management and firm technology.
  
  
• The Dirt has passed another subscriber mark with more than 430 people signed up to receive the daily Dirt Alerts.
  
  
• The public relations department asked each chapter to appoint a public relations chair by the annual meeting in Florida. Any takers??? Get them to Lisa Vavro, Chaopter President.
  
  
• Membership is maintaining at just over 15,000.
  
  
• The call for FY 2005 Chapter Initiative Program (CIP) proposals closed on Wednesday, June 1. Fifteenchapters have submitted a total of 20 CIP applications for $69,429. This year’s CIP funding is $42,000. The CIP jury has begun review of the proposals and funds will be distributed to the chapters by the end of August.
  
  
• The Fellows Jury convenes June 17-19, to review the 78 nominations for the 2005 Class of Fellows and to finalize the list of Fellows-elect for this year.
  
  
• Professional Interest (PI) Group section of the website is up and running…check it out!!!.
  
  
• Letters will be sent out to a target group of landscape architects, allied professionals, and other stakeholders inviting them to participate in the effort to develop a sustainable site rating system. This effort, led by the ASLA Sustainable Design and Development PI Group and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, will be kicked off at a fall meeting at The Wildflower Center.