Oregon Chapter of American Society of Landscape Architects names

At the 2004 Design Awards next month, the Oregon Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects will honor local landscape architects, planners and designers for their work over the last two years as well as two Oregon visionaries who have made an impact nationwide.

ASLA Oregon will recognize U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., who represents Oregon's 3rd Congressional District. He was chosen by the national society last fall to be one of seven honorary members for life for his leadership on issues affecting the environment, sustainable and economic development, and parks.

His record includes proposing an amendment to a 2004 Interior Appropriations bill to protect the Lower Klamath and Tule Lake national wildlife refuges, located on the border of Oregon and California. And in 2002, Blumenauer attended the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa, joining other members of Congress in criticizing the Bush administration for backing out of international environmental agreements, such as the Kyoto Protocol. He is also a known supporter of sustainable transportation and environmental standards in Oregon.

Also chosen last November to be a national honorary member, Nancy Buley, marketing director at J. Frank Schmidt and Son Co. in Boring, will be recognized at the design awards for her longstanding commitment to the environment and to fostering a relationship between the nursery industry and landscape architecture. In 1995, she was instrumental in sending 100 trees from the Schmidt nursery to Kobe, Japan after devastating gas fires destroyed much of the city in the wake of an earthquake. She partnered with the ASLA on the help mission.

(Buley) recognized years ago the relationship between the nursery industry and landscape architecture. She was able to forge the commitment between the two, said Paul Morris, immediate past- president of the national ASLA and senior professional associate at Parsons Brinckerhoff.

Honorary memberships in the society are for nonlandscape architects who contribute not only to the society but to the advancement of landscape architecture and building a better community, Morris said. Both (Blumenauer and Buley) have been significant contributors for a number of years.

The 2004 Design Awards theme is connections. The event not only will showcase connections to high profile leaders in the industry, but to sponsors, students and the community. Held at Northwest Portland gallery Bullseye Glass, event designers will incorporate products from this year's sponsors into the evening's decor. This includes hundreds of feet of sod from JB Instant Lawn, which will be used in tabletop centerpieces and as groundcover for the stage. It will also line the walls of the gallery, along which trees will be placed.

In addition, benches from Landscapeforms will be used to display entry boards. The sod, benches, planters, glass art and to other products on display will be donated to a Clackamas County women's shelter, Haven House, along with volunteer hours to create the shelter's new landscape.

In a new initiative to get students more involved with the program, firms attending the event are being asked to reserve one spot at each table for a University of Oregon student studying landscape architecture. In exchange for their tickets, students will help set up and tear down the event.

We're trying to include students as much as possible, said ASLA Oregon Design Awards Chairwoman Tara Byler, landscape designer at Walker Macy. (We're promoting) more participation, more interaction between professionals and students.

The last of the entrees have been gathered, and entry boards will be displayed at Pioneer Place April 4 to 11, providing the opportunity for the public to vote on a People's Choice award. Firms enter work in six categories: environmental/sustainable design, landscape architectural design, landscape planning and analysis, research and communications, residential design, and visionary landscape. The projects are viewed by a design awards jury, which selects the best projects and distributes awards in three categories: excellence, honor and merit.

The ASLA Oregon Design Awards will be held April 17 at 7 p.m. at Bullseye Glass, 1225 N.W. Everett St. in Portland. Tickets are $45 for ASLA members and $50 for nonmembers. Call Tara Byler at (503) 228- 3122 for more information.

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