News

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a few exciting announcements this summer that will be of particular interest to landscape architecture professionals and students.

Preserving and creating pollinator-friendly habitat is a critical issue for landscape architects. The urgent need to do more to protect our nation’s pollinators gained the spotlight during a June 21 congressional briefing and evening reception as part of Pollinator Week 2017. ASLA’s Government Affairs team hosted the events in cooperation with the Pollinator Partnership.

Contained within the 1,665 pages of the fiscal 2017 omnibus package Congress passed in early May was a big win for the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Memorial. The package includes $45 million in federal appropriations for the memorial, which some sources indicate is the green light for work to begin at the planned site near the National Mall. Senator Pat Roberts of Kansas and former Kansas Senator Bob Dole have raised $10 million in private funds for the project so far. The memorial has been estimated to cost nearly $150 million.

American Society of Landscape Architects’ (ASLA) Executive Vice President and CEO Nancy Somerville, Hon. ASLA, released this statement in response to the Trump administration’s release May 23 of its fiscal year 2018 budget recommendations: