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• The ASLA 2026 Conference on Landscape Architecture is just a few weeks away!
  • As chapter leaders and trustees prepare for the upcoming annual meeting, please take note of the latest conference developments and resources available at aslaconference.com:
  • EXPO & Sponsorship Growth: Thanks to strong industry demand, the EXPO floor was expanded. Conference sponsorships have also exceeded targets. Chapter leaders are encouraged to review the exhibitor directory to see which local and national partners will be represented on the floor.
  • Schedule & Governance Meetings: The full education schedule, field sessions, and general sessions are live. Be sure to check the master schedule for BOT meetings, Chapter Presidents Council sessions, and leadership briefings to plan your travel accordingly. Schedule at a Glance.
  • Chapter Promotion & Engagement: Please continue driving conference registration across your chapter communications and social channels. Direct members, emerging professionals, and students to the updated conference portal to register and book.
  • Special Events & Receptions: Review the scheduled alumni receptions, ASLA Fund events, and the Professional & Student Awards ceremonies to ensure your chapter's awardees and local leaders are recognized.
  • Visit our Plan Your Trip hub to maximize your trip. For the latest schedule adjustments, exhibitor lists, and leadership resources, visit aslaconference.com.
  • The Member Engagement Committee is recruiting Portfolio Reviewers. Help students and emerging professionals strengthen their portfolios by providing honest, constructive feedback on design presentation, project selection, and overall storytelling. Volunteer to be a Portfolio Reviewer!
• If you're attending the ASLA 2026 Conference on Landscape Architecture in Los Angeles and have ever considered serving in an appointed position or running for public office, join us for the kickoff of ASLA's new Civic Engagement Program on Thursday, September 17, 11:00am-12:30 pm PT. Hear from professional trainers who specialize in preparing individuals for public appointments and elected offices, alongside landscape architects with firsthand experience in public service. You'll also get a first look at ASLA's new Civic Engagement Program and its two pathways to service. Register HERE.
• On July 22, ASLA successfully hosted its 2026 Virtual Advocacy Day, bringing landscape architects from across the country together to advocate for federal policies important to the profession. Participants met virtually with U.S. senators and congressional staff to highlight the importance of the Transportation Alternatives Program and the Revitalizing America's Schoolyards Act, while sharing the critical role landscape architects play in delivering community-centered solutions.
• On July 13-16, ASLA welcomed 20 K-12 educators from 14 states to the inaugural 2026 ASLA Design Academy for K-12 Educators, an immersive, four-day professional learning experience at the ASLA Center for Landscape Architecture in Washington, D.C. Guided by landscape architects, designers, educators, and storytellers, including President-Elect Jennifer Nitzky, FASLA; Miranda Mote, Ph.D., ASLA; David Rubin, FASLA; Gabriela Canamar, ASLA; Ashley Feitel; Kendra Hyson, ASLA; and Baldev Lamba, ASLA, participants experienced the built environment firsthand and translated those experiences into interdisciplinary lessons connecting landscape architecture to history, science, arts, and humanities.
• ASLA has achieved official observer status to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Two ASLA representatives will represent ASLA at the CBD in Yerevan, Armenia in October.

Government Affairs – General

Legislative Priorities Survey: ASLA conducted the biennial Federal and State Legislative Priorities Survey to capture member feedback on emerging issues and guide the Society's future advocacy agenda. The call to action yielded 1,882 responses, providing a robust data set that will inform federal and state legislative priorities for the upcoming 120th congressional session. The Executive Committee will review and analyze the data next.

Grassroots Advocacy: ASLA and its advocates continue to use the iAdvocate Network to make landscape architects' voices heard on Capitol Hill, the federal agencies, and across state legislatures. ASLA urges all members to use the iAdvocate Network to send messages on active transportation, licensure, urban heat, student loans, and more.

State Government Affairs

State Legislative Sessions: As of August 14, six states remain in regular legislative session, and ASLA is currently tracking over 80 legislative proposals nationwide. Members and chapters can follow occupational licensure legislation on our tracking webpage or view this report. Over the past month, the State Government Affairs team has worked closely with multiple chapters and partners to address legislative activity impacting the profession, including:

• Illinois (SB 3897 – Board Sunset Extension): Governor JB Pritzker signed SB 3897 into law on July 31, extending the sunset of the Illinois Landscape Architecture Registration Act—and the Illinois Landscape Architecture Registration Board—through January 1, 2032. This extension ensures continued regulation and title protection of the profession across the state. The successful passage of the legislation reflects close collaboration between the Illinois Chapter and ASLA Government Affairs to preserve professional standards and maintain continuity for practitioners.
• Colorado (Uniform Standard Adoption): The Colorado State Board of Landscape Architects adopted the Council of Landscape Architectural Registration Boards' (CLARB) Uniform Licensure Standard into rule on July 17, with changes anticipated to take effect around September 14, 2026. National ASLA actively supported the chapter throughout the rulemaking process, emphasizing how modern regulatory frameworks protect the public while establishing clear, consistent pathways into the profession. To ensure stability for current candidates, existing standards will remain in place through June 30, 2027, before the new eligibility criteria take full effect on July 1, 2027.

National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL) Legislative Summit: The State Government Affairs team attended the NCSL Legislative Summit, July 26-28, and hosted a booth on the expo floor. The team engaged with legislators and legislative staff from across the country, promoting landscape architecture as a licensed profession and highlighting the profession's role in advancing resilient, healthy, and well-designed communities.

ARPL Launches Redesigned Website and Montana Awareness Campaign: The Alliance for Responsible Professional Licensing (ARPL) has unveiled a redesigned website designed to educate the public and policymakers on the vital role professional licensing plays in protecting public health and safety. The launch coincides with ARPL's new statewide awareness campaign in Montana, featuring digital advertising and billboards in key markets. As Montana evaluates occupational licensing reform, the campaign highlights the licensed professionals behind the infrastructure and public spaces communities rely on daily, reinforcing the importance of responsible, standards-based regulation.

Federal Government Affairs

Section 106 Historic Preservation: On Friday, July 24, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation voted to move forward on sweeping changes to Section 106, gutting the review process. Once the proposal is published for comments, it is imperative that landscape architects submit personalized comments about how these changes would impact their projects and the communities they serve. ASLA is actively monitoring the Federal Register and will inform members when the portal is open to receive your public comments.

Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) Bill: Recently, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee released the bipartisan WRDA 2026 legislation. ASLA worked with the Committee staff to successfully include a provision about nature-based solutions in the measure. Government Affairs reviewed the entire text of the bill and submitted a letter of support highlighting provisions that align with advocacy priorities, including nature-based solutions, community engagement, ecosystem restoration, and expanded recreational access as part of water resources projects. The team will continue to help advance the legislation as it moves through Congress and identify additional opportunities for continued engagement.

America the Beautiful Act Advances in Senate Committee: Both the House and Senate Committees have completed work on their versions of the bipartisan legislation, the America the Beautiful Act, which would reauthorize the National Parks and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund and support long-term investments to address deferred maintenance needs across national parks and public lands. Both measures are ready for floor votes.

ASLA Government Affairs continues to be an active member in several coalitions, including the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) Coalition, National Complete Streets Coalition, Transportation4America Policy Group, National Parks Second Century Action Coalition, Sustainable Urban Forest Coalition, Percent for Place, Outdoor Alliance for Kids, and others. Also, ASLA leads the Green Infrastructure Working Group, which focuses on policies to advance the use of green infrastructure.

ASLA has released an updated version of Decarbonizing Specifications: Guidelines for Landscape Architects, Specifiers, and Product Manufacturers. The revamped guidelines include ten new and updated sections. The guidelines are one of the ASLA Climate & Biodiversity Action Committee's most popular resources, with more than 3,500 pageviews to date.

The Climate & Biodiversity Action Committee Biodiversity Subcommittee has developed a prototype Biodiversity Wiki and is now testing the application with five ASLA chapters and the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects.

ASLA signed-on to a new report from the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF): Recommendations to Better Integrate Nature-Based Solutions into the Models and Pricing Used by the National Flood Insurance Program. The ASLA Climate & Biodiversity Action and Government Affairs teams also recently met with EDF to discuss new approaches to measuring the flood resilience benefits of nature-based solutions.

Through the four-part Indigenous Right Relations: Design Alignment Through Cultural Humility webinar series, landscape architects are invited not simply to learn about Indigenous Peoples, but to transform how they practice in service of healthier lands, stronger communities, and enduring right relations.

• Reframing Practice: Land, Sovereignty, and the Role of the Landscape Architect. This July 28 presentation focused on cultural humility and how changing the way we see can change the role of landscape architecture in shaping relationships, not just spaces.
• Place, History, and Trauma-Informed Engagement to Build Right Relations. The second presentation in the series was August 18 and explored how Indigenous land histories and dispossession shape present-day conditions to recognize behaviors that build trust.

The ASLA Climate & Biodiversity Action Committee's Climate & Biodiversity Action 101 for Landscape Architects webinar series, which is underwritten by Landscape Forms and free for members, explores innovative strategies for decarbonization, biodiversity conservation, and climate resilience.

• Recent Event: Rights of Nature: Approaches to Environmental Justice. This July 30 presentation focused on how Indigenous communities have led the creation of the Rights of Nature movement, which recognizes that ecosystems and wildlife have the legal right to exist, flourish, and evolve, and how landscape architects can support and embrace this burgeoning global movement.
• Upcoming Event: Heat Health: Mobility Justice, Research, and Implementation. The next webinar, scheduled for September 3, will focus on extreme heat, the deadliest of climate hazards. ASLA Climate & Biodiversity Fellow Keenan Gibbons, ASLA, will present his research that is revolutionizing a new approach to measuring heat at the experiential scale. Speakers from Wild Land Workshop and the Smart Surfaces Coalition will cover how to use the lens of mobility justice to make communities more resilient to heat impacts, taking away site-scale strategies and policy and planning solutions.

The ASLA Associate Advisory Committee, dedicated to supporting and representing emerging professionals nationwide, launched the second edition of the ASLA Emerging Professionals Design Competition. A total of 16 submissions were received by the deadline on July 16. Winners will be announced in mid-August. Mirroring the theme of the 2026 ASLA Conference, the Emerging Professionals Design Competition invites emerging professional ASLA members to reimagine a new design for Angels Knoll in Los Angeles, California with the theme "Action! Design in Motion. Work in Progress."

On July 29, ASLA 2026 First Look kicked off the conference with two sessions, Action! Narrative Landscapes: Storytelling, Ecology, and the Lucas Museum and In Conversation: Christine Ten Eyck, FASLA + David Godshall, ASLA. This virtual learning day, included with full conference registration, gave participants an additional opportunity to earn continuing education credits, explore ideas connected to this year's conference theme, and build momentum before the conference. ASLA 2026 First Look is now available to watch on-demand. For anyone who registered for the conference after July 28, access to ASLA First Look will be included when the 2026 conference education session recordings are released via ASLA Online Learning. If you attended ASLA 2026 First Look live or have watched the videos, you are invited to share your feedback. First Look: Virtual Learning Day was sponsored by mmcité.

Select sessions from the ASLA 2026 conference education program have been approved by USGBC for SITES-specific continuing education.

The ASLA 2026 conference on-site registration rates began on August 5. Tickets are now available for purchase for the ASLA x Land8 Wrap Party, the closing event on Friday, September 18.

The ASLA Fund NEH grant for K-12 Design Academy, previously cancelled by DOGE, was reinstated. The 2025 and 2026 programs have been funded.

The ASLA Fund Founders Club has reached 184 members! The Founders Club is holding its next Founders Club Town Hall on Monday, September 28, at 2:00 pm ET. Join today and be part of the club for as little as $18.99/month.

The ASLA Fund will be hosting the Annual ASLA Fund Founders Club Reception in Los Angeles on September 17.

Social Media Profile Performance (across Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter)

July social media performance reflected strong audience growth and engagement across ASLA's channels. Total audience reached 300,033 as of July 31, with net audience growth of 1,608, up 63.2 percent from the previous period. Across platforms, ASLA generated 443,946 impressions, 22,025 engagements, and 3,896 post link clicks, with an overall engagement rate of 5 percent. Content highlighting ASLA's Virtual Advocacy Day, the redesigned Professional Practice Networks (PPNs), and the upcoming ASLA 2026 Conference on Landscape Architecture helped drive engagement throughout the month. In August, communications efforts will focus on building momentum toward the ASLA 2026 Conference in Los Angeles as registration continues, along with the announcement and promotion of the 2026 Honors and Awards winners.

The winners of the 2026 Professional and Student Awards will be released on August 24, 2026.

LAM Online Traffic Data (July 16-August 13)

Top 3 posts

1. Horticulture Uprooted by Yaniv Korman; July 15; 455 views
2. Down to Earth by Elizabeth Boults, ASLA; July 29; 150 views
3. The Infinite Frame by Lydia Lee; July 8; 134 views

• Total Views: 3,830 (down 0.2% from previous 4-week period)
• Views of main LAM web page: 760 (down 11% from previous 4-week period)
• Total active users: 1,342 (up 1% from previous 4-week period)
• Total new users: 1,108 (down 2.8% from previous 4-week period)
• Returning users: 400 (up 7.5% from previous 4-week period)

Percentage comparisons from a year earlier:

• Total Views: down 76%
• Views of main LAM web page: down 82%
• Total active users: down 86%
• Total new users: down 87%
• Returning users: down 72%

Data about The Landscape Report

* Average of versions included in A/B testing; may include MPP opens and bot clicks

On July 23-25, ASLA co-exhibited with the American Institute of Architects at the National Girl Scout Convention, promoting landscape architecture as a career pathway through Your Land magazine and the Future Designer patch program. In partnership with Gresham Smith, Girl Scouts Carolinas Peaks to Piedmont officially launched Future Designer, an engaging, hands-on program that introduces Girl Scouts to the world of design, including landscape architecture, architecture, interior and graphic design, urban planning, engineering, and related careers. Through creative activities and real-world projects, participants discover how design shapes the world around them — and how they can, too.

On July 23-24, LAAB held its Summer Board Meeting in Seattle, Washington. The Board continued revisions to the LAAB Accreditation Standards ahead of a public comment period in September and received a review of the ICOR Practice Overlap Report from CLARB leadership. The Board also elected Mark Hough, FASLA, Chelina Odbert, Hon. ASLA, and Bill Estes, ASLA, to second terms; elected Allan Shearer, FASLA, as Chair-Elect; and elected Mary Pat McGuire, ASLA, as Secretary. While in Seattle, LAAB Board members also visited and learned about ASLA award-winning Gas Works Park and received a tour of the Seattle Waterfront from local landscape architects Jason Henry, ASLA, and Guy Michaelsen, FASLA, of Berger Partnership.

On July 28, a group of rising Washington, DC Public School high school seniors from the Work-Based Learning Opportunities program visited the ASLA Center to learn about landscape architecture and tour the ASLA green roof and garden.

On August 6, the CPC leadership, Chair, Sarah Boyer, ASLA, and Chair-Elect Garret Munch, ASLA, hosted the virtual First Time CPC Attendee Orientation. Twenty-eight chapter leaders attended for the comprehensive overview of what to expect and tips for making the most of the experience.

President Bradley McCauley, FASLA, was the keynote speaker at the University of Georgia, Athens, on August 25. President McCauley was also the keynote at the Nebraska-Dakotas Chapter in mid-July.

President McCauley and Past President Kona Gray, FASLA, participated in the Florida Chapter's annual conference in July.

President McCauley and CEO Torey Carter-Conneen, Hon. ASLA, both attended the Council of Landscape Architectural Registration Board's (CLARB) conference this month. President McCauley will also participate on a panel during the conference.

CEO Carter-Conneen recently participated as a panelist at the D7 Summit in Kansas City, MO. The summit, which is hosted by the Center for Architecture & Design and KC Global Design, brings together the CEOs of the top seven design organizations to focus on collaborative solutions to design industry challenges.