ASLA Oregon

September 2011 Trustee’s Report:

 

This will be my last report as your Trustee since my term is over as of the 1^st of October. 

I will be attending the Annual Meeting and providing feedback to Brian Bainnson who is your new Trustee.  It has been a great honor to have served our State Chapter the past 6 years and will miss meeting with other Landscape Architects to help shape the future of our profession.  However, I know that Brian and others will continue to move us forward in a positive way.  I hope all of you get involved with ASLA at some level to help lead our profession and make a positive impact with the public and to the environment we live in.

 

Some of the highlights from our National Office the past month are as follows:

 

Governance and Administration

·       The Executive Committee met by to review several items that will be considered by the Board in San Diego:  revised 2012 and draft 2013 budgets; the Licensure Committee-drafted policy on a universal designation for licensure; and the report of the Task Force on Accreditation and Licensure.  The Executive Committee also approved a new student chapter at Washington University in St. Louis. 

 

Government Affairs

·       Case studies from our massive green infrastructure for stormwater management data collection campaign earlier this year are now up and available to ASLA members and the public. You can view the results of our survey and the 475+ case studies that over 300 ASLA members submitted!

·       Thanks to the tremendous efforts of ASLA advocates, Senator Tom Coburn (OK) has temporarily halted his attempts to eliminate the Transportation Enhancements (TE) program. During recent attacks on the TE program, ASLA advocates have sent about 2,500 messages to Capitol Hill, which helped stave off elimination of the program. However, the fight does not end here. Coburn is working to “reform” the TE program when the Senate takes up a long term transportation reauthorization bill in the coming months. ASLA encourages all its members to continue to use the Advocacy Network to reach out to their legislators about supporting the Transportation Enhancements and other key transportation programs important to the profession.

 

Landscape Architecture Magazine

·       LAM Editor Brad McKee recently completed a stint as a judge for Folio Magazine’s 2011 Eddie Awards in the categories of best custom publication and best online news coverage.

 

Public Relations and Communications

·       Three of the original and most popular sustainable design resource guides have been edited and updated: Green Infrastructure; Sustainable Transportation; and Sustainable Urban Development.

·       Recent ASLA news coverage appeared in the Daily Record, Flint Journal, Inhabitat, St. Louis Beacon, St. Louis Post Dispatch, Salem News, Globe and Mail, CNN, the Shreveport Times, and the St. Louis Post Dispatch, and others.

 

Professional Practice

·       The Sustainable Sites Initiative™ (SITES™) has launched a survey to determine the feasibility of professional credentialing and project certification. SITES is currently working with the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI), which manages the certification and credentialing programs for the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating Systems™. The survey is open until Wednesday, November 2, and respondents are eligible to win a $100 Amazon gift card.

 

Dave