California Landscape Design

APLD NATIONAL UPDATE

The advocacy committee is always up to something, even if members around the country aren’t aware of all the details outside of their own backyard. Much of the work our committee does is behind the scenes or at the local level. The bulk of what this committee has historically focused on has been reactionarily battling the curbs on our ability to practice. However, this year we wanted to take a stab at some pro-active PR for ourselves, so we focused our print message on highlighting a few key projects around the country. Be sure to check on previous national newsletters for those articles. Additionally, we’ve kept busy this past year with a handful of other items:

• Training for any members on Statescape, the software APLD uses that tracks all legislation pertaining to our work in every state in the country

• Triage calls from members around the country about specific right to practice questions

• Brainstorming and/or reviewing legislative language to ensure our rights to practice in a handful of states around the country

• Holding conversations with members to assess a diverse set of issues in North Carolina, Rhode Island, Virginia, Washington, DC, Oregon, Alabama and Arkansas

• Brainstorming a long term advocacy agenda for the organization with a board of directors

• Connecting APLD members without chapters to the new virtual chapter resource

• Highlighting a select number of projects in our national newsletter that deal with thorny issues pertaining to a plethora of regulatory hurdles such as stormwater and erosion mitigation, habitat restoration, historic preservation, and low-water landscape design in severe drought affected areas

• Reviewing and commenting on local ordinances that update tree canopy protections

• Attending state ASLA conferences to build and maintain relations with our ASLA colleagues

• Coordinating and attending local lobby days at state legislatures to underscore our economic footprint to elected officials