Latrobe-Unity Parks and Recreation Commission received three proposals for the Lincoln Avenue Trail and chose landscape architect Rich Rauso of Trafford to begin working on plans for the 1.6-mile project.

He's worked with us over the years, said Executive Director Jeanne Ashley at the commission's meeting last week, citing other projects Rauso has completed, including work with Adelphoi USA, the city of Latrobe and local churches.

The trail, which will run along the former Ligonier Valley Rail Road path, is funded by a $250,000 grant from the Westmoreland County Community Conservation Partnership Program through the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

Ashley said she has walked the route with a representative from DCNR and will do so with Rauso to begin planning work on the trail, which should take through the end of the year before construction begins in 2015.

The project, matched with $250,000 in funds, began when the Latrobe Foundation bought the right of way from Norfolk Southern Corp. in 2012. Two trailheads, stamped concrete crossings, erosion control and asphalt paving are all part of the plan for the path, as well as landscaping, benches and dog stations.

Ashley announced that a $5,000 grant was received from Coca-Cola for recycling bins.

The money will pay for 25 bins that will be installed throughout parks, she said.

It's time we tried to do our share of caring for our environment, she said.

A date has not been set for a kick-off celebration, but the event with local officials is in the works for Legion-Keener Park featuring free Coca-Cola from the sponsor, Ashley said.

The commission approved the hiring of two lifeguards for the remainder of the summer to replace those who quit.

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Landscape architect hired for Ligonier Valley Rail Road trail project

Peter Daniel - Architect Landscape Architect
A short film made in the early 1960 #39;s by John Paterson about how Peter Daniel set about creating the master plan for Livingston New Town in Central Scotland.

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Peter Daniel - Architect & Landscape Architect - Video

First Flight
First Flight is the name given to the landscaped entrance along George Bolt Memorial Drive, leading to the Airport from the north. Designed by James Lord, a New Zealand landscape architect...

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First Flight - Video

Alex Skolnick, Kiran Ahluwalia Nitin Mitta rehearsing - Planetary Coalition
Planetary Coalition is a world music project started in New York City by jazz, metal, any-style guitarist and writer Alex Skolnick and his collaborator architect landscape architect Maddy...

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Alex Skolnick, Kiran Ahluwalia & Nitin Mitta rehearsing - Planetary Coalition - Video

Where the River Shannon Flows was a best-seller in 1940. Illustration: Michael Viney

The new logo on our road signs had me puzzled for days. Wavy white lines on blue what was that about? Narrow, wiggly, bumpy roads? Fair enough. Good surfing? Not that way, into the mountains. Eventually it dawned were now part of the Wild Atlantic Way.

That must be why theyve mended all the potholes and why the grassy-spined boreen down to the strand, clearly just wide enough for one careful driver, has a big, new speed limit of 50km/h.

So now, summoned for a check-up at our distant centre of excellence, it is wisest to leave before breakfast to beat the camper vans into Doolough Pass and, come August, best to stock up with a months supply of everything and close the gate behind us, grateful for the summer mufflement of trees.

It was the Romantics, said Bertrand Russell (in his History of Western Philosophy) who shaped the wild taste in scenery a revolt of passion and individualism against a world of stultifying peace and quiet. Up to Rousseau, he argued, the admired rural landscape was a scene of fertility, with rich pastures and lowing kine. But then dramatic and untamed scenery took over the poets and novelists and almost everybody nowadays this from Russell in 1945 prefers Niagara and the Grand Canyon to lush meadows and waving corn.

Since Russell, a warming world has seen great changes. Spectacular chasms and rushing torrents are no longer the passionate metaphors of literature, but physical threats of things to come. Meanwhile, the Wild Atlantic Way offers soothing views of an infinite horizon, while driving very slowly and never checking the mirror.

But what of the islands interior, still mostly under human command? Just published, and largely ignored by the media is the Governments Draft National Landscape Strategy. It comes a decade after signing the European Landscape Convention and 20 years of native agitation and advice, most cogently from from the Heritage Council and, on the sidelines, from Terry ORegan, the crusading landscape architect from Cork.

A speaker at one of his landscape conferences in the 1990s offered a tempting but cynical thesis: Basically, landscape planning means that those of good taste, or hopefully of good taste, tell those of bad taste or none what they may or may not do. But the European convention was heavy on subsidiarity taking decisions at the most local level possible. Along with pulling together all the government and sectoral interests in the landscape, much of the Irish effort has gone into cultivating trust among stakeholders defending their local views, trees and hedges.

The passing years have brought good successes in local management of landscape, land use and heritage, as in the Wicklow uplands, the Burren, Bere Island, the Great Western Greenway and many locally-negotiated walking trails. But rows over wind farms and pylons continue to warrant a fully developed landscape policy.

We seem little nearer to deciding how landscape should be described at least in terms that bureaucracy feels it can use. It is 14 years since local authorities were charged with preparing landscape character assessments factual appraisals, to eschew any notions of beauty or other aesthetic ranking. Many counties, indeed, did their best (Co Meaths is one worth reading online) but developing a national landscape character assessment is still a heartfelt wish listed in the strategy document.

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Another Life: Notions of landscape liable to produce divergent opinions

July 17, 2014 -

The Manzanita Speaker Series will present renowned landscape architect Mia Lehrer who will share her commitment and vision to achieving a healthier, more holistic future through the design of symbiotic cities.

(ML+A), Lehrer's international landscape architecture and urban design firm, is located in Los Angeles, CA. It is known for its design and development of a wide spectrum of ambitious public and private projects including; the LosAngeles River Revitalization Master Plan and creating an ecological laboratory in the heart of Los Angeles with the Natural History Museums Nature Gardens.

Manzanita Institute, an initiative of Manzanita School (www.ManzanitaSchool.org), begins as a parent involvement, education and participation portal. The institute convenes thought leaders to advance dialogues around learning, youth engagement, nature connection, and healthy human development. It is a space where global thinkers, educators, parents and students gather to inspire and teach one another.

For all inquiries please contact Kim@ManzanitaSchool.org.

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Manzanita Speaker Series: Designing with Nature, July 25

Memorial designer and landscape architect Bob Horsley, left, and VIFR assistant chief Bob Larsen, right, watch carefully as the first column is lowered into place.

image credit: Natalie Martin/Staff Photo

Vashon Island Fire & Rescues 9-11 memorial has gone from plan to reality, as the first of its pieces was set in place on Thursday.

Chief Hank Lipe, who has driven the project since the fire station obtained a piece of steel from the fallen World Trade Center (WTC) three years ago, was on hand for the long-awaited occasion.

You can see me pacing. This is how I feel when my daughter is just about to race, said Lipe, whose daughter is a rower. Its nerve wracking. Weve been working on this for three years.

The anxiety Lipe referred to was due to the logistics of actually building the memorial, which is comprised of multiple pieces of columnar basalt from the Columbia River basin that will stand vertically to represent the New York city skyline. One of those columns will have the steel piece embedded in it, representing the destruction caused by the attack.

We wanted to make this interactive, said Bob Horsley, a landscape architect and the memorials designer. Its not just something to look at; there will be a bench and sitting stones in among the columns so people can actually be a part of it.

There will also be a special fire hose coiled around the bottom of one of the columns to represent the firefighters.

The construction of the memorial has been delayed primarily due to slow county permitting processes and fundraising needs, but theyve now cleared the biggest hurdles, Lipe explained, although there are ongoing expenses.

People may not realize that there is no public or taxpayer money involved in this project, Lipe said. The entire project has been privately supported through gifts and donations.

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Construction begins on 9-11 memorial in town

Dunedin-based business Design and Garden Landscapes recently received a swag of awards at Landscaping New Zealand's Landscapes of Distinction awards. Business reporter Sally Rae speaks to the company's founder and director Wayne Butson about the path to success.

Wayne Butson

Perched on the edge of the estuary, and complementing what was already an award-winning house, it was what he described as a special garden.

''Sometimes you get the scope to do something that really comes together well. You don't always have the scope to do that.

''I knew it was a good garden. I loved the plantings and overall design and the location of the house. It had all the elements,'' he said.

What Mr Butson did not expect was for his business to win the landscape of the year national award at Landscaping New Zealand's biennial Landscapes of Distinction awards, courtesy of that garden.

Mr Butson, his wife Ella and their staff had gone to the awards function in Wellington for a ''fun time'' as he was standing down as president of Landscaping New Zealand after a two-year term.

Judges had visited 26 gardens from Whangarei to Wanaka, ranging from tropical to alpine, and the Thoms' ''naturalistic'' garden, which combined native and exotic plantings.

Design and Garden Landscape's team at Landscaping New Zealand's recent awards in Wellington (back from left) Matt Aberdein, Kent Pollard, Simon Greenall, Emma Taylor, Ella Butson, Grant Wassell, (front from left) Bud Law, Wayne Butson and Paul Gillies. Photo by Brian Sheppard.

It was the second time the business has won the title; it previously won in 2010 for the Kunac garden on the Taieri. Design and Garden Landscapes, with its staff of seven, has come a long way since the business was established by Mr and Mrs Butson in 1991.

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Landscape design business building on success

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

For an environmental issue as big as climate change, the smallest things still do matter. Homeowners can take these five simple steps so that they can do their share in reducing the carbon footprint human activities leave on this planet. The carbon footprint is a measure of how great an activity has toward contributing to greenhouse gases, a major component of climate change.

Inquirer Property recently asked a landscape architect, a civil engineer and its resident green architect for their practical suggestions.

1. Reduce energy consumption via light. Landscape architect Dickie Altavas suggests that homeowners switch to outdoor LED (light-emitting diode) lighting to reduce energy consumption.

Even if you hardly see the difference in your bills, at least youre doing your part, Altavas said.

A few other energy-saving lighting tips, according to 365 Ways to Live Green, are:

Avoid opaque light shades that require stronger bulbs; use light-colored paints and flooring to reflect light; clean dust from light fixtures so their light will shine through; and when reading or performing tasks requiring focused lighting, turn off background lights and rely on a small focused lamp.

Choose compact fluorescent lights over incandescent light bulbs. The former is four times more energy efficient.

2. Choose white for your roof. Use white-colored roof and roof insulation to cut down energy use by preventing heat transmission, said Inquirer Property columnist and architect Amado de Jesus of the Green Architect Movement.

3. Surround your house with greens and birds.

Continued here:
5 things you can do to reduce global carbon footprint

WRS Hot Job -- Lead Landscape Architect, UK, Wind Energy
Sarah, who specialises in supplying personnel for Renewable Energy projects, has an exciting opportunity available in Gloucestershire for a Lead Landscape Ar...

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WRS Hot Job -- Lead Landscape Architect, UK, Wind Energy - Video