Profile: The Idaho Montana Chapter of ASLA, founded in 1973, is a professional association of landscape architects, associates, and affiliates with 120 members across the two states. The IM ASLA Chapter works to increase the public's awareness of and appreciation for the profession of Landscape Architecture in our western region.

To start the year off, educators from both Montana State University and the University of Idaho attended the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture annual conference in Sacramento, CA. One of our own, Gary Austin was honored with the Outstanding Communications award for his books Green Infrastructure for Landscape Planning, Constructed Wetlands and Sustainable Development with Kongjian Yu, and soon to be released Digital History of Landscape Architecture (Apple Books), and Green Capitols of Europe: Studies in Sustainable Development (Routledge Taylor Francis). Gary has been a pillar of the University of Idaho Landscape Architecture department over the past 30 years, teaching studios, site planning, construction and site engineering, water conservation technology, history of landscape architecture and just about anything else that needed teaching. This was a great send off, as Gary is retiring and will be greatly missed.

The Chapter organized library displays in both Idaho and Montana promoting our Chapter Awards and the profession through the entire month of April. Our displays reached patrons in Missoula, Montana as well as four cities in Idaho including Boise, Meridian, Nampa, and Caldwell. At the University of Idaho, the students hosted a guest lecture by Tim Waterman and gave their own brown-bag lunchtime presentation during the month of April to promote World Landscape Architecture Month.

In April, several members of the Executive Board traveled to Moscow, Idaho to jury the University of Idaho student awards. The student presentations were high quality and held a lot of promise for the future of the profession. Congratulations go to the 2019 Idaho-Montana Chapter Student Awards winners: Alison Tompkins (Honor), Lauren Cubacub (Honor), Graym Wood (Merit) and Mandi Roberts (Merit).

Our biennial Rendezvous was held mid-May and was a great success! The educational lecture sessions were excellent. It was a pleasure to have the opportunity to dialogue with all of our presenters. Their excitement for the profession was evident in both the lecture topics chosen and the material presented. Likewise, our sponsors and exhibitors provided an amazing amount of financial and educational support, teaching us first-hand about the products they represent and how these products can assist in making our designs more successful. We had 107 people attend including professionals, students, speakers, exhibitors, and sponsors. Our award winners were:

 
General Design
- Jensen Belts, JUMP Honor Award
- Architects West, Stub Road Estate Merit Award

Planning and Analysis
- CTA Group, Shoreline District Merit Award

Research and Communication
- The Land Group, Grey Water System: Design Guide
to Provide Alternative Irrigation Resource in Idaho Honor Award

Residential
-CTA Group, Thompson Lake House Garden Honor Award

Resource Conservation
-Land Design Inc., Shiloh Conservation Area Honor Award

We also had a friendly studio competition between Montana State University and the University of Idaho at the Rendezvous.
Congratulations Montana State for winning the studio competition! Seeing student work examples always seems to conjure up inspiration and excitement for the future of Landscape Architecture. Students were encouraged to bring their portfolios to be reviewed by a panel of judges for a scholarship award. Johnny Dohner from Montana State University impressed the judges and won the challenge!

In August, we held our first Site Tour at Fort Missoula Regional Park in conjunction of National Site Tour Month. The attendees included Missoula County Planning Director, three City Council members, State Rep. Willis Curdy, U.S. Senator Steve Daines, U.S. Senator Jon Tester, Sonny Capecz, Montana Field Representative in the Office of U.S. Congressman Greg Gianforte. Though our group was small, we felt everyone left with a better idea of the role that landscape architecture plays in our fast-changing world. Thank you to our sponsors! We are hoping we can grow this event in the future and host one in Idaho and one in Montana.

PARK(ing) Day showed record turnout in Idaho this year. This event gives us a worldwide platform and we are excited to continue to grow this event in the coming years.

This year the Idaho Montana Chapter added a couple more items to our calendar of events. We are excited to continue to strengthen our relationship with our student chapters and look for opportunities to teach kids about the exciting profession that is Landscape Architecture.

As seen in LASN magazine, December 2019.