LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT

Greetings Friends! 

Summer is finally here again, and I hope that all of you are enjoying the endless New Mexico beauty. Get out there! We have sunshine and monsoons and desert colors for days. The dynamic places Landscape Architects create are alive and ever-changing. Follow that lead, and remember to take some extra time for you and yours this season.

Your NMASLA Executive Committee has been an active bunch, adapting to our professional community’s needs, and shifting with the times. We have been discussing how to reactivate a few initiatives of the past, are getting involved in some important new efforts, and are happily planning for the next time that we can get together with all of you. Thank you to everyone who came out and contributed to our tour of the Santa Fe Railyard District. There was a great turn out, it was a gorgeous day, and we learned so much from an impressive group of design professionals located here and afar. We are so fortunate when we get to learn from each other. Your NMASLA ExCom has now turned our attention to Q3: the annual golf tournament. Rally your teams and get those clever costumes ready. Registration for this event is open now.

As you have also probably seen in our bi-weekly email blasts, we are getting ready to elect a new Executive Committee for 2023. Participating in ExCom is an important way for each of us to give back to our chosen profession – we represent a pretty small faction in New Mexico, and we value everyone who steps forward to take a turn helping to shape this professional community and make it better. Thank you to each of you that have already accepted the challenge, and I ask each of you to vote for your next group of leaders when the survey is released in the coming days. 

Also, I am pleased to report that our Climate Action Committee is finally taking shape. New Mexico is so lucky to have some incredibly innovative minds among us, who are already talking about this complex topic, and implementing practices on the ground. How can we truly combat climate change through our work? What tools are you using on your projects to design a more responsible site? How is your team choosing smarter products, and how are you designing outdoor spaces that are more and more resilient in a changing world? Landscape Architects around the world are taking action on this critical issue every day and we want to hear from you about how you are making things better, one project at a time. If this is a topic that you are passionate about, please share your ideas with the newly-forming NMASLA Climate Action Committee. This is so important, and the window to have an impact is shrinking every day. It’s time to get involved!

As always, please reach-out with ideas and questions. We hope to see you all in August!

Courtney McKelvey

Christie Green has a new article in the latest issue of edible New Mexico. The feature story, A Symphony of Species: Beyond Human Regeneration is about land stewardship and reciprocal relationship for the benefit of non-human species, including plants, animals, soil and water. There are some interesting interviews with local ranchers, government and non-profit folks and land stewards.

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An upcoming exhibit featuring Ken Romig and Christie Green….

This spring the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Authority (ABCWUA) asked its users to submit examples of Desert Friendly Landscapes that they could use to promote these types of landscapes. The residential garden of Richard C. Bumstead FASLA, was selected as one of 10 gardens that they will be using through the summer on their 505 Outside publication, both in print and on line. https://www.505outside.com/2022/06/01/local-desert-friendly-landscapes-reveal/

by Baker H. Morrow, FASLA

 The landscape architects of New Mexico lost a great friend and supporter when former New Mexico State Representative William C. “Bill” Camp died on March 19, 2022, in Scottsdale, Arizona, his home for the past several years.  

Working with the legislative affairs committee* of the New Mexico Chapter, ASLA, and Mr. Chris Krahling, the chapter’s lobbyist, Representative Camp sponsored the New Mexico Landscape Architects Registration Act in the 1985 session of the legislature.  It successfully passed both houses and was signed into law by Governor Toney Anaya after the legislature adjourned in March of that same year.

The successful passage of the Landscape Architects Act immediately established national standards of practice for landscape architecture in New Mexico and made it possible for landscape architects in the state to compete on an equal basis with architects and engineers for public and private projects, including parks, playing fields, streetscapes, college and school landscapes, housing complexes, shopping centers, and other key commissions.  We were also able to effectively compete for the first time with landscape architects licensed in other states – a welcome improvement.  

The Landscape Architects Act is the founding document of modern landscape architectural practice in New Mexico, and Representative Camp played a fundamental role in its successful passage.  His legislative contributions to our profession are unmatched in the modern era.  New Mexico’s landscape architects will always owe him a great debt.  

Bill Camp moved to Albuquerque with his family in the 1950s, and he and I became friends in grade school.  He was a graduate of Highland High.  Always amiable and warm, and a man with a never-failing sense of humor, Bill studied in college to become a mechanical engineer, graduating from UNM with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering in the late 1960s.  He later returned to the University of New Mexico for his MBA degree.  Very successful in his own professional life, he also served for many years in the Army Reserve and on multiple community boards.

Bill was pleased when the Landscape Architects Act became law in 1985, but much more pleased, I’m sure, when he married Linda Bobier later that same year.  They spent many happy years in each other’s company in Albuquerque and Phoenix.

*In 1984-85, the Legislative Affairs Committee of the New Mexico Chapter, ASLA, consisted of Jack Leaman, Bob Johns, Baker Morrow, Bill Perkins, Gil Berry, and others who were conducting the third full-scale attempt by New Mexican landscape architects to establish licensing and registration in the state.  All the landscape architectural firms in New Mexico, as well as many individuals, contributed money and time to the effort.  It proved to be successful.

As the effects of climate change become more apparent, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in New Mexico and several partners have released the first climate-ready tree list specifically designed for Albuquerque. These trees are the most resilient for our changing climate. They would not only survive, but also thrive, through their lifespan. Netleaf hackberry, desert willow and crape myrtle top the list along with several fruit trees. 

Like many other cities, Albuquerque has a low tree canopy—a mere 10-percent. Additionally, temperatures are rising because of climate change. Some neighborhoods are five degrees hotter than nearby communities because a large amount of concrete and asphalt – combined with little vegetation – radiates heat at night. 

“Trees provide shade, cool temperatures, clean our air and improve our health,” says Sarah Hurteau, urban conservation director for TNC in New Mexico. “The climate-ready tree list will play a key role in the city’s initiative to plant 100,000 trees over the next 10 years. We want to plant the right trees in the right places at the right time to get the most benefits for our future.”Hurteau led the project with 10 experts from across the Southwest. They first developed a list of 136 species to be evaluated, including fruit trees, ornamentals, shade trees and native species from across the region. Following USDA heartiness zones – a national framework based on temperature compatibility – combined with future climate predictions, the team scored trees to determine which ones are most ready for our warmer, drier conditions. 

“I’ve been in the tree industry for 50 years,” says Andrew Lisignoli, Sales Manager, Trees of Corrales, Ltd. “Knowing which trees are ready to face climate change will help us plan for the future. Growers need to start the production process now.”

Trees are Joran Viers’ life in more ways than one. Viers, who is the city forester for Albuquerque, has had a love of trees since his childhood when he climbed them. “We have new alternatives – such as blue oak and screwbean mesquite which will add tree diversity to our canopy. The City will share this tool with planners to add to parks, medians and more.”

TNC will provide easy-to-use guides for municipalities, neighborhoods and individuals, which will include tree suggestions under specific site conditions to supplement our existing videos illustrating best practices around planting, watering and tree care. 

During a recent arborist conference in Denver, Lisignoli recommended that cities across the country replicate this resource based on local trees because the impacts of climate change are widespread. 

This tree research was based off of a framework developed by McPherson et al, which was published in 2018 in the scientific journal Urban Forestry & Urban Greening. 

NMASLA Q3 Golf Tournament - Arroyo del Oso Golf Couse, Albuquerque, August 26, 2022

Isotopes Park Tour - Albuquerque, September 23, 2022

APA New Mexico Conference - October 5-9, 2022

ASLA National Conference on Landscape Architecture - San Francisco, CA. November 11-14, 2022

ONGOING IN 2022……..