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Shaping the Political Landscape: ASLA's Call for Issues
One of the pillars of ASLA is to advance the profession of landscape architecture through advocacy, education, and fellowship. ASLA is an advocate for the profession at the local, state, and national levels on public policy issues including licensure, livable communities, surface transportation, the environment, historic preservation, urban parks, and more.
Even as advocacy continues for these issues, the process is now beginning to determine which issues will be a priority for the Society in the upcoming 2009–2010 Congress. First and foremost, ASLA wants to hear what is important to its members—we want to hear from you!
ASLA is sustaining important federal legislative campaigns to secure funding for the Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS) and to urge Congress to pass comprehensive climate change legislation. ASLA has also successfully worked with Congress to introduce the Small Community Visioning Improvement Act (H.R. 3374) and to pass the Green Energy Education Act (H.R. 1716) in the House of Representatives. Other recent legislative campaigns include the No Child Left Inside Act, the Community Gardens amendment, and the National Landscape Conservation System permanence legislation.
As ASLA begins to develop its 2009–2010 federal agenda, legislative issues must meet a set of criteria, the most critical of which are member relevancy and timeliness. Legislative issues should be relevant to a broad segment of the ASLA membership; their relevancy may be due to an economic impact or because of the expertise held by the landscape architecture profession. There should also be some reason to believe that an issue is likely to be on the congressional agenda or active through the executive branch agencies.
This year, we need your help. Share your ideas about issues that are important to you and that should be included in the Society’s upcoming legislative agenda. Please explain why any of the following issues are important to you and add other ideas to the list:
- active/healthy living
- climate change
- community visioning
- complete streets
- disaster response
- education—grant opportunities for design students
- federal lands
- HALS and other historic preservation issues
- liability and tort reform
- security design
- sustainability and sustainable design
- small business/health care
- transportation policies and enhancements
- urban parks and forests
- water and stormwater
Please take a moment to send your suggestions, comments,
or questions to Federal Government Affairs Manager Roxanne
Blackwell or any government affairs staff by Tuesday,
April 15.
Take this opportunity to shape ASLA’s future political landscape.
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