ASLA Oregon

July 19, 2011 Edit

in Announcements, General

June 2011 Trustee Report

June 2011 Trustee’s Report via Dave Walters, ASLA Oregon Chapter:

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

Governance and Administration
President Jonathan Mueller, FASLA, President-Elect Susan Hatchell, FASLA, and EVP Nancy Somerville, Hon. ASLA, participated with other associated organizations in the Presidents’ Council meeting. The meeting included discussion of challenges posed by the economy, growth of the profession and landscape architecture programs, the Landscape Architecture Continuing Education System, and public awareness.

ASLA staff members took a summer field trip yesterday to visit the new green roof atop the Dirksen Senate Office Building. The green roof replaces a rarely used tennis court and has a design of the Capitol’s dome and the Washington Monument that can be used as a path to explore the roof. Discussions are underway to have a green wall designed by a landscape architect, which is scheduled for next spring.

Government Affairs
This month the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced $67 million of funding for the Sustainable Community Regional Planning Grant program in 2011. The second round of regional planning grants will soon be made available through a Notice of Funding Availability.

The “June Advocacy Jamboree” has been a huge success! In one week, over 850 messages were sent promoting the recently re-introduced Green Infrastructure for Clean Water Act. In 2011 you have sent over 7,000 messages, 1500 messages ahead of our pace at this point last year. Keep up the good work!

The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) recently held a briefing regarding the creation of the Federal Interagency Council on Outdoor Recreation (FICOR). As part of President Obama’s America’s Great Outdoors Initiative, the Department of the Interior, Department of Agriculture, Army Corps of Engineers and Department of Commerce signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish the FICOR to coordinate and promote outdoor recreation opportunities on public lands. ASLA remains committed to assisting DOI and other federal partners in carrying out the goals of the America’s Great Outdoors Initiative.

Publishing and Resource Development
The student awards jury convened June 10-12 to consider 457 submissions, the largest number in the history of the program. The previous record was 271 in 2010. The number of undergraduate submissions doubled over last year at 172. The jury selected 39 award winners.

Professional Practice
As of June 17, ASLA is offering readers of the LATIS (Landscape Architecture Technical Information Series) reports who submit self-test exams an opportunity to evaluate the LATIS reports. Each LATIS evaluation form is available through a link to Survey Monkey from the associated self-test. The evaluation forms are voluntary and comply with LA CES (Landscape Architecture Continuing Education System) guidelines. The information from the evaluations will help ensure clarity and value of each LATIS report to the reader.

Public Relations and Communications
The Infrastructure for All sustainable animation was posted, generating more than 3,200 views in 10 days. The animation has already received coverage in Fast Company, Grist, and others.

Other recent coverage of ASLA appeared in the Commercial Appeal, eBuild, and Lawn & Landscape. The popular green site Inhabitat.com ran an extensive feature on the Sustainable Sites Initiative. Inhabitat reaches 1.5 million readers each month. Additional ASLA coverage appeared in Garden Center magazine and Lawn & Landscape. Planet Forward and Architype Review are working on stories about the profession.

DW