Last night, President Biden hit key themes in hitting the climate and biodiversity crises and investing in America's infrastructure. Innovative projects led by landscape architects can address all three of those needs -- at the same time.
ASLA 2023 Professional General Design Honor Award. The University of Texas at El Paso Transformation. El Paso, Texas. Ten Eyck Landscape Architects, Inc. / Adam Barbe Today, ASLA released the following statement by CEO Torey Carter-Conneen after the State of the Union urging the Administration to continue deep investment in nature-based infrastructure solutions as part of its forthcoming budget priorities:
“Last night, President Biden hit key themes in addressing the climate and biodiversity crisis and investing in America’s infrastructure. Innovative projects led by landscape architects can address all three of those needs–at the same time. Take for example The Solar Strand at the University at Buffalo or the New Orleans Reforestation Program–these projects directly address climate, biodiversity and infrastructure development. Not surprisingly, investment in water infrastructure is increasingly important in every corner of the country—sea level rise, stormwater management, drought planning, and water contamination are all things natural solutions can help manage like the West Pond: Living Shoreline in Brooklyn and Queens New York and the water-harvesting project in Tucson.
“ASLA urges the Administration to continue to ‘invest in America’ and prioritize conservation and nature-based programs that we know get results.”
In its letter to the Biden-Harris Administration, ASLA urged agency level funding for climate change, biodiversity as well as programs level funding for:
- Justice40
- Clean Water State Revolving Funds
- Land and Water Conservation Fund
- Chesapeake Bay, Great Lakes Restoration Initiative
- National Park Service
- Historic American Landscape Survey
- African American Burial Grounds Preservation Act
- Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) Grants
- Surface Transportation Block Grants
- Thriving Communities Program
- Reconnecting Communities Pilot (RCP) Program
- Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program
- National Scenic Byways Program
- Urban and Community Forestry Program
- Community Development Block Grants
See ASLA’s full budget request letter.