June 21, 2006

• Congratulations to Perry Howard , FASLA, for his election as 2007 ASLA President-elect! The Tellers Committee met on June 16 to verify the election results. A record 34.7 percent of eligible voters participated in the election. Thanks to Van Cox, FASLA, for his candidacy and commitment to ASLA.
  
  
• ASLA Staff met with staff from the National Trust for Historic Preservation to discuss opportunities for collaboration on issues including security design and the National Land Conservation System. The Trust is a co-sponsor of ASLA’s Landmark Award.

• It now appears that the National Park Service’s (NPS) new management policies will conform to pre-existing park-protective policies . Early drafts of the Plan were troublesome with regards to resources such as air quality, wilderness preservation and the quality of visitor experience. Although not yet approved, a draft document released for internal review appears to make the grade. More than 50,000 comments were submitted when the original draft was posted last year—one of the most significant outpourings of public concern about a park issue in the 90-year history of the system.

• At the midyear meeting, the ASLA Board of Trustees approved the granting of dues waivers for ASLA members on active military duty in war zones. The ASLA Board agreed that such waivers need not be initiated by the individual member, but may be granted based on a written request from the chapter president.
  
  
• If you know any active-duty military members please contact Holly Renner at HQ with the member’s pertinent information so it can be sent on to National for action. The email should include the member’s name, ID, branch of service, and country of deployment. Once the waiver has been processed, a confirmation email will be sent to the recipient and the chapter president.

• The ASLA room block is continuing to fill for the 2006 ASLA Annual Meeting & EXPO and 3 rd IFLA World Congress. Reservations can be made on-line at the ASLA discounted rate. Registration for the conference is in full swing and the early bird, $100 savings promotion runs through August 28, 2006. Note that advance reservations are required for all ticketed events.
  
  
• Up Country Gardens has donated the chairs for the ASLA green roof. Tables will also be donated. The chairs are very similar to those used in Bryant Park in New York.
  
  
• Fundraising for the ASLA green roof stands at 74 percent of goal.
  
  
• The 2006 student awards jury reviewed 252 submissions, selecting 25 student awards in seven categories.
  
  
• Public relations staff has been fielding many interview requests. Highlights include: the NBC affiliate in Arizona interviewed Steve Martino, FASLA; the California Real Estate Journal interviewed Mark Rios, ASLA, Walter Hood, ASLA, Anne Howerton, ASLA, and Bill Callaway, FASLA and Kiplinger.com, the web site for Kiplinger's Personal Finance, featured an article on residential landscape architecture that included interviews with R. Michael Schneider, ASLA, Dean Hill , ASLA, Jeff Carbo, FASLA, and Rob Tilson, FASLA.
  
  
• Information has been submitted to NPR’s Marketplace, listing ASLA as a source for experts in green building and sustainable design. Individual members who specialize in green roofs were also encouraged to submit their information.

June 7, 2006

• The green roof is now accessible for wheelchairs. A Stair-Trac portable wheelchair lift was tested successfully on the roof access stairs and is now on site ready for use as needed. [The stair is not wide enough to accommodate a wall-mounted wheelchair lift; other options, including extending the elevator to the roof, were explored during the design process but were cost prohibitive. The green roof is not required to be accessible under the Americans with Disabilities Act, but the Board felt strongly it should be made accessible if possible.]

• Voting for ASLA president-elect concluded June 7 at 12:00 a.m. PDT .

• President-elect Pat Caughey, FASLA, represented ASLA on a panel on visual resource management practices at the 12th International Symposium on Society and Resource Management in Vancouver on June 6. Also serving on the panel was Brad Cownover, ASLA, former Chief Landscape Architect with the Bureau of Land Management.

• New Hampshire Governor John Lynch (D) signed legislation on June 5 that creates a new practice act, to go into effect July 1, 2006. The full implementation of the requirements will take place after rules are promulgated. With this win in New Hampshire, and the upgrade victory in West Virginia earlier this year, landscape architects are now regulated with practice acts in 40 states.

• Nearly 50 landscape architects from 42 states and the District of Columbia convened for the fifth ASLA Licensure Summit in Vermont June 2-4. For more details, see the June 5 th issue of LAND. If your chapter is interested in hosting the 2007 Summit, please contact Government Affairs Director Julia Lent. Preference will be given to chapters that are actively seeking a practice act.

• Guidelines and the application form for the 2007 Licensure Grant Program is now available on the Chapter Operations Website. The deadline for submissions is August 15. This year, we have been able to increase the total funding available for the matching grants for a total of $40,000.
  
  
• ASLA staff continues to follow up with Lobby Day requests and comments. Federal Government Affairs Manager Scott Kovarovics gave a green roof tour to staff with Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon on May 31.  Senator Wyden’s staff was particularly interested in touring the roof because Senator Wyden is developing legislation concerning green buildings.  ASLA offered to assist with this effort. 
  
  
• Nine chapters have submitted a total of nine Chapter Initiative Proposals (CIP) for a total request of $33,380, which is a disappointing figure and way below the $52,000 available.

• ASLA has released the recipients of the 2006 ASLA honors:

• ASLA Medal: Cameron Man, FASLA
• ASLA Design Medal: Steve Martino, FASLA
• Firm Award: Olin Partnership
• Jot D. Carpenter Teaching Medal: Donald L. Collins, FASLA
• LaGasse Medal: Hugh C. Miller, FAIA, Honorary ASLA
• Olmsted Medal: Mayor Richard M. Daley, Honorary ASLA
• Community Service Award: Randal Scott Romie, ASLA

• ASLA Professional Awards Residential Design Category partner Garden Design magazine will publish a co-branded insert with Landscape Architecture magazine featuring the 2006 award winning projects. The insert will appear in the final 2006 issue of Garden Design, which will be published in time to debut at the ASLA annual meeting in October, and will be distributed to all ASLA members, LAM subscribers, Garden Design subscribers, and on newsstands, for a combined circulation of nearly 260,000. The bonus insert will also be distributed at the NAHB, AIA, and other trade shows in which ASLA participates in 2007.

• The new and improved JobLink now allows job and resume posters to format text using bold, italics, underlines, bullets, numbers, and hyperlinks. Jobs may now be posted for 30, 60, or 90 days and are searchable by a number of criteria to help job seekers organize the listings. Also, beginning in July, non-member job posters will receive a one-year membership in ASLA, hoping to replicate the success of the awards programs in capturing new members.

• ASLA will be conducting the next national salary survey during June 2006. The purpose of the survey is to collect, analyze, and disseminate salary data on the profession for information and research purposes. Private, public, and academic sectors will all be covered by the survey, and the results will include analysis by major metropolitan areas, states, regions, years of experience, number of employees, job titles, and gross revenue of the employing firm or organization. The information will be collected in a database and available to search online by subscription.

• The Therapeutic Garden Design PPN has posted its latest newsletter to the Network’s website.

• The current release of LAND Online features member profiles from the Residential Landscape Architecture and Design-Build PPNs in a continuation of the ongoing series “Reports from the Field.”

• ASLA has invited four students in landscape architecture to assist three of ASLA’s PPNs in the coming year. The students applied for the position of Web Journal Editor, a new internship program proposed by ASLA. MLA candidates at Ohio State University’s Knowlton School of Architecture and Kansas State University will be working with the Urban Planning and Design PPN and the Reclamation and Restoration PPN, respectively. An MLA candidate at Auburn University and a fourth-year BLA student at Ball State University will both be working with the Sustainable Design and Development PPN. The students will begin their year of work with the PPNs in the fall of 2006.