While I doubt you will hear the big names out there adding these topics to their stump speeches, maybe, just maybe they should . . .

Things like demand for new landscape architects . . . Just the other day I received a press release from ASLA President Perry Howard, FASLA, challenging landscape architects to ?EUR??,,????'??reach out to at least one K-12 student during April?EUR??,,????'???s National Landscape Architecture Month and introduce them to careers in landscape architecture.?EUR??,,????'??

According to the press release, the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics has projected the demand for landscape architecture services will grow by an astonishing 16 percent by the year 2016?EUR??,,????'??+making our profession the fastest growing of all the design professions.

The release stated that ?EUR??,,????'??almost half of all landscape architecture firms added staff positions in 2007 (and) to meet this demand we need to increase the number of graduates by at least six percent each year (while) we are currently on pace to increase by only two percent per year.?EUR??,,????'??

Obviously, the candidate that advocates this kind of professional growth, should get your vote . . .

This demand for landscape architects is fueled in part by the growing public concern for wise use of water . . . The new buzzword . . . ?EUR??,,????'??Regenerative.?EUR??,,????'??

What started out as water conservation turned into ?EUR??,,????'??xeriscape?EUR??,,????'?? when a couple of landscape pros from Colorado coined the term from the Greek xeros (dry) to describe ?EUR??,,????'??dryscaping.?EUR??,,????'?? This served the PR purposes of public awareness and quickly traveled throughout the country on the lips of landscape professionals.

However, dryscaping soon became the art of using no water and in essence no plant material. We?EUR??,,????'???ve all seen the picture of the rock garden with a stone sculpture . . .

Fortunately, this evolved into the sustainability movement. The question being answered was what could we plant (i.e., are there native plant materials) that would be sustained without irrigating the site? This philosophical breakthrough replaced the rock gardens with native groundcovers, mulches, shade trees, et al. . . .

Still, the idea of sustainability has an underlying connotation of being a defensive movement . . . Kind of like repairing the developed grounds to hold on to its integrity in a minimalistic approach.

Much better than rock gardens, but still missing something . . . Alas, the new catch word . . . ?EUR??,,????'??Regenerative.?EUR??,,????'??

While a sustainable landscape holds its footing, the regenerative landscape grows its footprint. While the sustainable landscape plants by design, the regenerative landscape allows natural selection to take over. Sustainable is the sterile version of regenerative.

We have grown to the point that just holding on to a landscape is not enough. Today, much like the idea of growing the student population of landscape architects, it is better to plan a landscape that not only sustains itself, it ?EUR??,,????'??Regenerates?EUR??,,????'?? . . .

And what better way to help regenerate the profession than to increase the importance and the methods of gaining continuing education . . .

Today, only 29 states require continuing education credits as a condition of licensure. This does not make the profession look very progressive nor important in the eyes of the politicos.

When a Denver newspaper compares the recent Colorado licensure act to the licensing of barbers, it is sadly unaware of the importance of the profession. Even sadder is that the profession still summons the posy planter image in the minds of many.

Not only should the ASLA and the various state movers and shakers push to establish the need for continuing education, but they also need to support that platform with PR that shows how important the profession is to the health, safety and welfare of the country.

So, while the major candidates push forth their ideas in the months ahead keep your ears and eyes open to see which one will better serve this profession and, if you get the chance, let them know what matters most to you . . .

?EUR??,,????'??+God Bless