Licensure Campaign Gets Boost from the ASLA Advocacy Network
Tool will add quick-response capability for chapters to mobilize landscape architects in support of practice act legislation.

The new ASLA Advocacy Network has been activated, providing a new online tool that will make it easier for more landscape architects to get involved in the legislative process. The Advocacy Network provides quick and effective means to:

• communicate with state legislators using background information and draft letters and emails from your state chapter and ASLA national staff
• find contact information for state legislators, agencies, and boards
• track legislation that could affect landscape architects in your state

Beyond Congress, with the Advocacy Network, ASLA can leverage our numbers and increase our impact in state capitols across the nation. Your chapter leaders can activate the network to call upon landscape architects in your state to enact, improve, or defend licensure—or get involved in other key legislative issues. It also has the capacity to respond to regulatory changes at the state and local level.

Every ASLA member is already subscribed to the Advocacy Network. To maximize the system’s effectiveness, it is essential that each one of you add your home address to the Advocacy Network. We encourage you to take a few minutes to log on to the network and update your personal profile today. This information will not affect your ASLA member information. The databases are separate and your member record will remain intact. If there is a change that affects both systems, you will need to make the change for both.

When you visit www.asla.org/advocacynetwork, simply follow instructions on the home page. You can save time by inputting your email address at the bottom of the page where it reads “If you are already signed up...” This information is critical to our ability to successfully target communications to specific committees and groups of legislators.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I sign up?
All ASLA members who have email addresses are already “signed up” for the network. However, members are identified only by the state in their address of record. All members need to update their information in the Advocacy Network to include their home address. When you visit www.asla.org/advocacynetwork, simply follow instructions on the home page. You can save time by inputting your email address at the bottom of the page where it reads “If you are already signed up...“

Why can’t I use my work address?
Pure and simple, legislators respond to constituents—those people in their district who can choose to vote for them (or their next opponent). Although some people live and work in the same congressional district, many others do not, and the likelihood that you live and work in different legislative districts increases dramatically at the state level, where districts tend to be much smaller geographically. It is no secret that email has revolutionized the world of communication, and legislators are inundated with hundreds, if not thousands, of emails each day. With increasing frequency, legislators are using various filters and web forms that block electronic communication from anyone other than their constituents. If it is not immediately clear that you are a constituent, your communication may never reach the office or it is likely to be ignored. The ASLA Advocacy Network is set up to accurately match you with your federal and state legislators—and this begins with adding your home address to the profile.

Will this information change my ASLA member profile?
No. This information will not affect your ASLA member information. The databases are separate and your member record will remain intact. If there is a change that affects both systems, you will need to make the change for both.

Will this information be shared with anyone else?
No. All of this information is maintained on this site strictly for matching you with your legislators and other officials. It will not be shared with any other entity nor used for any other purpose.

Why do you want to know if I’ve previously contacted a legislator?
In early 2006, ASLA surveyed its members and found that a significant percentage of our members have never contacted federal, state, or local officials on landscape architecture issues. One of the primary goals of this service is to make it possible for more landscape architects to get involved. This information will only be aggregated to gauge the success of this outreach.

There is a landscape architect in my office who is not a member of ASLA. Can she participate?
Yes. Through the “Tell a Friend” feature at the bottom of an alert, you can send the information to anyone, even someone who is not a landscape architect. You can also simply forward the email alert that you receive. When that person goes to take action, the system will prompt the person to add his/her profile, including home address. Unless that person chooses to unsubscribe at a later date, heshe will receive all future alerts that apply to his/her location. ASLA encourages anyone with an interest in our issues to participate.

I’ve heard that my legislator doesn’t like email. Is there another option?
Yes. Every email alert has an option to print out the message so that you can send it as a letter or personally fax it to the legislator’s office. Contact information for federal and state officials can be found on the ASLA Advocacy Network site.