2007 ASLA Landmark Award Winner: Charleston Waterfront Park 2, Sasaki Associates Inc. (Alex MacLean photo)

The Living Shorelines Act, which the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) is working diligently to shape and help move through Congress, cleared a major hurdle in the road toward final passage.

The bill passed a full committee markup in the House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources with a bipartisan vote of 22-13. The move comes after ASLA members took action, sending thousands of messages to lawmakers about the importance of this legislation.

"The Living Shorelines Act is a critical piece of legislation addressing the damaging effects of the ongoing climate crisis. It will give coastal communities the vital tools and resources to adapt to sea-level rise and more frequent, severe storms through nature-based solutions," said Roxanne Blackwell, Hon. ASLA, director of Federal Affairs at the American Society of Landscape Architects.

"ASLA would like to thank House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Raul Grijalva [AZ] and Water, Oceans, and Wildlife Subcommittee Chairman Jared Huffman [CA] for their leadership in getting us to this point. We also thank Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., who has introduced this legislation and worked to move it through the legislative process. ASLA will continue working with Congress to ensure this vital bill becomes law."

This vote comes amidst a week of global Youth Climate Protests and the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York, all aimed at pressuring leaders here in the United States and around the world to take more aggressive action to mitigate the effects of climate change.

Earlier, Shawn T. Kelly, president of the American Society of Landscape Architects, called on leaders to "adopt national policies that incentivize investment in nature-based solutions to help communities adapt to the impacts of the climate crisis."

The Living Shorelines Act is exactly the kind of bipartisan legislation needed to begin addressing these issues — assisting localities, states, and nongovernmental organizations with developing, and implementing green and nature-based infrastructure along our shorelines, ASLA said.

Learn more about ASLA's long-standing support and work on the Living Shorelines Act.

See President Shawn T. Kelly, FASLA's full statement.

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