Yea! It's Summer. The ASLA Elections are over and, regardless of who wins (the results will be posted
at LandscapeArchitect.com when announced), it's great to see so many PLAs passionate about your
licensure status and leadership roles, both of which are crucial to the growth of the profession.

 

Unfortunately, the ASLA Administration decided not to recognize McCauley's admission into the Council of Fellows (see below) nor give him credit as a PLA, even though the Executive Committee's recommendation is to include PLA in the string of credentials. We have also heard from ASLA members that conversation about Lukenda's lack of being a Landscape Architect was assertively squashed. Clearly, they were trying to hide the fact that one is and one is not a Landscape Architect in the effort to push a social warrior over a PLA businessman.

Moving forward, it is important that ASLA makes it clear that regardless of schooling and experience, no one should be allowed to call themselves a Landscape Architect unless they have a license to back it up. One way to make that clear would be to require licensure as a base element for obtaining Full Membership. Another would be changing the recommendation from listing ASLA before PLA to making the tag read: Landscape Architect, PLA, ASLA.

Back in the days of Olmsted, when landscape architecture was a 'gentleman's' profession, the information of the Society was a necessary step, and the tag of ASLA meant you were a vetted professional. Today, PLA is the most important tag, changing the relevance of the ASLA tag to one that says, not only are you a Practicing Landscape Architect, but you are also active in shaping the profession with your membership. Both are important, and together they are a strong statement.

With that, we'll hopefully see you all at the ASLA Annual Meeting in DC this October 6-9. But for
now, it's time to get out and enjoy the landscapes you all have provided across the nation and around
the world. Have a great Summer and . . . God Bless . . .