As the publisher of Landscape Contractor National, I have a vested interest in the advancement of the business of landscape construction . . . and one of the most meaningful enhancements to the business is the licensure of those practitioners who operate within the profession. Should landscape contractors be licensed? Of course they should! Is the Certified Landscape Technician (CLT) an alternative to licensure? . . . absolutely not! Sure, having a CLT is better than nothing, but without licensure, landscape contractors are little more than gardeners and posy planters. Somehow that just doesn?EUR??,,????'???t portray the profile of the landscape contractors I have met over the 20 plus years I?EUR??,,????'???ve been putting out landscape magazines. The landscape contractors I know are hard working, qualified professionals, responsible for thousands, and sometimes millions of dollars of private and public monies. The landscape contractors I know are sometimes running multiple crews and multiple projects over a wide geographic region. The work done by the landscape contractors I know affects the public?EUR??,,????'???s health, safety and welfare. From backflow prevention to the preservation of historical plant materials and from equipment operation around public utilities to hillside erosion control, the landscape contractors I know are responsible for meeting the needs of the public and ensuring that the scope of their work does not endanger the people or environment influenced by the development. Several states require licensure already, but certainly not all. A Google search of ?EUR??,,????'??landscape contractor licensure?EUR??,,????'?? produces zero results. A similar Google search for ?EUR??,,????'??landscape contractor license?EUR??,,????'?? only produces about 190 results. Most of those results are focused on California, Oregon, Washington, Arkansas and North Carolina. LCN is compiling a list of those states with legislation in place, legislation in the works, and those states lacking the initiative to further the business . . . Of the above-mentioned states, North Carolina is engaged in efforts to gain practice act legislation for landscape contractors (HB 984, SB 893). The North Carolina Landscape Association is encouraging members to actively support the legislation . . . as they should. I searched the Associated Landscape Contractors of America (ALCA) website for licensure and again produced zero results. I checked the American Nursery and Landscape Association (ANLA) website and couldn?EUR??,,????'???t find a thing about licensure. Of course the nursery industry has a history of opposing the licensure of landscape architects, so an avoidance of licensure issues for landscape contractors is not surprising. Their view has been that nurserymen should be able to design and install almost any level of landscape development . . . However the ALCA?EUR??,,????'???s lack of licensure understanding is negligent, if not self-serving. A visit to the ALCA website is a venture in paying the association to administer the CLT test. The CLT, offered in 23 states, is, again, better than nothing, but is a poor substitute for organized licensure. The best scenario is for the business owner to be a licensed landscape contractor with many CLTs throughout the crew(s). But ALCA appears to be motivated to reap the monetary benefits of organizing the CLT at the expense of organizing the profession into a highly respected and licensed business. And the ANLA is more motivated to assist the nurseryman than the landscape contractor. As such, there is no national voice working for you in the advancement of the business, coordinating and supporting the state efforts to enhance your professional status. Sure there are plenty of landscapers out there who mow a few lawns and replace a pop-up here and there. Hey, college students need a way to make a few bucks in between classes. But those of you in states where there is no licensure, and those of you who are members in the ALCA or ANLA, should step up, pat yourself on the backs for being professionals, and take the necessary steps to make licensure a requirement for being a true member of the construction industry. God Bless . . .