I?EUR??,,????'???m not sure though that Philadelphia, or Pennsylvania, will be all that eager to host the next meeting as the past few states hosting the meeting have met with dire circumstances. Just after ASLA met in New Orleans, hurricane Katrina blew through. After ASLA met in Minneapolis, a bridge collapsed. And now, just after meeting in San Francisco, a huge part of California burned to the ground . . . and the San Francisco Bay Area was shaken by another earthquake.

OK . . . So ASLA had nothing to do with those events but the subject was bantered about in the exhibit hall . . . and it makes for a good segue into the California fires, Al Gore, planning around disasters and meeting the demands of the profession . . .

Of course, Al Gore was scheduled to appear (again) at the meeting but had to cancel (again). However, unlike in ?EUR??,,????'???91 when he stood up the ASLA just after being elected to the vice presidency, Mr. Gore was called away to attend the funeral of his aunt, Nell LaFon. While I don?EUR??,,????'???t always agree with his philosophies, all of us at LASN wish him all the best and offer our condolences . . .

Still he was able to address the convention via satellite praising the leadership of the ASLA, recognizing the crucial role of the profession in dealing with environmental challenges, and urging landscape architects to continue asserting their leadership.

It is good to hear such a prominent figure recognize the profession because, the truth is, if the world is warming due to human intervention, landscape architectural intervention can provide at least a part of the cure . . .

And if ?EUR??,,????'??industry?EUR??,,????'??? is pouring out the CO2 then how much CO2 was put into the atmosphere from the California fires? Now add in the many summer forest fires throughout the Rockies and the Southeast . . .

Biblically speaking the end of the world will be marked by fire. Is the end near or are we just more aware of what?EUR??,,????'???s happening because we have such instant news and information services? One hundred years ago gathering all the data from the fires, even tabulating the overall size, would have been a very difficult task. Now folks in Maine know how many acres have burned over the past hour in Southern California . . .

That aside, drought and fire go hand in hand . . . and both need to be planned for . . . Of course, after a fire, when the rains finally do appear, the burnt land loses it ability to hold the soil, creating more catastrophe in the form of severe erosion.

So much of the work that landscape architects do is aesthetic and driven by developers looking to enhance their projects. Demand for this kind of work has pushed the supply of landscape architectural services to a point of exhaustion. Still the need for landscape architects to step into the arena of infrastructure has never been greater.

Unfortunately, there are still low numbers in the university systems. Now, the ASLA has made great strides in promoting the profession. Landscape architects are even being mentioned positively in movies and TV. But there is still a stigma about the profession that may turn potential applicants away.

A big part of that stigma is being perpetrated by the nursery associations who are promoting the notion that they basically have to beg workers to steal into the country to fill their positions. What used to be an honorable career is broadcast by this segment as just an undesirable, no-future, second-class job.

When youth are considering where to focus their career activities and someone mentions landscape, very few are standing up and shouting, ?EUR??,,????'??Yea! That?EUR??,,????'???s me!?EUR??,,????'?? It is truly unfortunate as never in the history of the business has this industry been in such a great position to influence the lives of the people of this planet . . .

So . . . from San Francisco to around the globe it is ever more important to keep on the high road in promoting the business of landscape and, as a result, this industry can truly take its place as a leading influence in the world of development . . .

OK . . . So I rambled a bit . . . Must be the Frisco in me . . .

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