An article recently appeared in this publication that mischaracterized the work of landscape architects and insinuated that the licensing of professional landscape architects is unnecessary.

I would like to set the record straight.

First, there is often a fundamental misunderstanding of the profession of landscape architecture. If you remember nothing else from this missive, remember this: “landscape architecture” and “landscaping” are NOT the same thing. Landscape architects are frequently confused with trades that are not, and should not be, subject to occupational regulation, such as landscape gardeners, contractors, and the college student with a truck who’s performing yard work.

So what do landscape architects do?

The City of Chicago tends to be 2 degrees warmer, on average, than the rural areas that surround it, and even more at night. This is called the “urban heat island effect,” and results in increased energy use, more pollution and emissions, and impaired water quality within cities. Landscape architects design green roofs and urban spaces to help fix that.

On average, a pedestrian was killed once every 88 minutes in the United States in 2017. Around 840 bicyclists were killed in vehicle crashes in a single year. Landscape architects plan pedestrian and multi-modal circulation systems and streetscapes to help fix that.

There were 32,700 terrorist attacks in 2017 worldwide. Attackers are constantly finding new ways to inflict maximum damage, including attacks that involve driving into large crowds - as we’ve seen in Charlottesville, New York City, London, Nice, and Toronto, to name a few.

Landscape architects design public and private spaces, including public plazas and pedestrian rights-of-way, to help thwart a broad range of threats, from crimes of opportunity to terrorism.

The prevalence of obesity among adults and children in Illinois has increased sharply over the past three decades. Sixty-two percent of adults in the state and one-in-five children are overweight or obese. A report from the Illinois General Assembly cited “limitations to active transportation options, such as sidewalks, bicycle lanes and public transportation” and “lack of open space for safe recreation activities and/or mixed-use land planning” as contributing factors.

Landscape architects design and draft construction documents for parks, walking and hiking trails, and outdoor recreation spaces to help fix that, too. Second, the bill currently before the Illinois legislature won’t criminalize or require a license to give advice to your neighbor on planting a garden, hiring the college kid down the street to take care of your yard, or hiring a landscape contractor to perform lawn and garden maintenance. That’s not what landscape architects do and anyone who says otherwise is misinformed.

Licensing landscape architects isn’t something new, nor is it exclusive to Illinois. Licensure is required in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Landscape architects have been licensed in Illinois for decades. There are nearly 17,000 licensed landscape architects practicing in the United States and the profession continues to grow.

The Illinois Landscape Architecture Practice Act, as proposed in Senate Bill 1899, is about public health, safety, and well-being. Landscape architects adhere to a code of professional ethics and take our responsibility to the public, and our role as environmental stewards, very seriously. This bill is for the public good and should be championed by anyone who thinks health and safety in our public and private spaces is important.

Mark Jirik serves as the Advocacy Chair for the Illinois Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects.