Sustainability Conflab

We've been talking lately about what a sustainable landscape really looks like. It's well and good to write standards, but the real point of a landscape is to look good, right? Today (5.14.08) we posted some images of standard home front yards on the Sustainability Conflab. We're hoping some of you will download the photos and sketch in a sustainable landscape, then share it on the site. Three of them are standard suburban homes. You may recognize the fourth. If not, we'll let you know in a future blog.

In a signing ceremony on Friday, April 18, 2008, at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, members of a steering committee signed the documents creating the first Texas Invasive Pest and Plant Council (TIPPC). The steering committee was created in October 2007 at the second Texas Invasive Species Conference held at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, Texas. Attendees at the Conference were offered the opportunity to sign up as charter members of a TIPPC, and a steering committee was appointed and charged with creating bylaws and establishing the council.

The mission of the TIPPC is To promote understanding of invasive plant impacts and management in Texas; provide a forum for the exchange of scientific, educational and technical information; and support research and restoration activities that reduce impacts of invasive plants in Texas.

As the Council continues its formation, we will keep you posted.

Talking About Sustainability

In the TNLA Association magazine, TNLA Green, we have been running a series on the latest environmental buzz word, sustainability, or sustainable landscaping. Conventional media wisdom says we aren't sure what it is but it must be a good thing so let's all jump on the sustainability bandwagon. Unfortunately, we aren't sure what the wagon looks like so we may not recognize it when it comes by, and we certainly aren't sure where it's heading.

Two projects working to give us a more definitive picture of sustainability are the Sustainable Sites Initiative, and the Sustainable Agriculture Practice Draft American National Standard for Trial Use

We asked the TNLA Green Team to give us their understanding of what sustainable meant. To see the results, and cast your vote for the one that most nearly matches your concept, click here.

The final installment of the TNLA Green series will take a look at some actual landscapes that have been developed with sustainability in mind. After all, no matter what we say, isn't it how the landscape looks that counts?

If you have a landscape, either installed or still in design phase, that you would like to post on our photo album of sustainable landscapes, just email it to info@tnlaonline.org. After we get our set of photos posted, we can start the conversation.

Fraud Scheme Targets Landscape Companies

TNLA has learned that an identify fraud scheme is targeting landscape firms. A firm receives a fax that says it is from the United States Department of Transportation and that the Department requires certain information in order to qualify the firm as a prospective contractor. A "financial information release form" is provided and the company is told they must fax the form in to qualify for contracts. This letter is not from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

If you have received such a letter you should immediately contact your bank. If you have already suffered a loss due to this scheme, please contact Secret Service Special Agent Donnelly at 210-846-4708 and report the loss to assist the Secret Service in pursuing this case.

The Secret Service recommends extreme caution in all financial disclose areas and recommends the following business practices:

• Keep a close eye on all reported activities in your bank account(s).

• Notify your bank that any additional lines of credit or wire transactions should be viewed with suspicion and must be directly cleared with your company's official agent.

• Never provide information that would give access to your bank accounts without fully confirming who is receiving that information.

TNLA will keep you informed about this issue as information becomes available. Thanks to TNLA members who took swift action to share this information.

2008 Primary Election Update

Throughout the State of Texas last night, TNLA was pretty successful in our endorsements. TNLA PAC Trustees had endorsed 15 candidates in House and Senate races. With the infusion of some first time voters and people voting on emotion and not principle, things were a little scary for some of our good friends. Overall, eight House incumbents were defeated - two of those we had endorsed. From my view, our biggest loss was Rep. Pat Haggerty (El Paso) and our biggest win was Rep. Charlie Geren (Ft. Worth).

To view all elections returns please visit the following websites:
Democrats - Republicans

Here is a snapshot of our endorsements and outcomes:

TNLA Endorsed Winners:

Donnie Dippel, La Grange
Rep. Kino Flores, Mission
Sen. Tommy Williams, The Woodlands
Sen. Craig Estes, Wichita Falls
Rep. Betty Brown, Terrell
Rep. Byron Cook, Corsicana
Rep. Charlie Howard, Sugar Land
Rep. Doc Anderson, Waco
Rep. Delwin Jones, Lubbock
Rep. Charlie Geren, Ft. Worth
Rep. Joe Crabb, Kingwood

TNLA Endorsed - Headed to a Run Off
Bryan Daniel, Georgetown
Rep. Buddy West, Odessa

TNLA Endorsed - Defeated
Rep. Pat Haggerty, El Paso
Rep. Corbin Van Arsdale,Houston

Jim Reaves
TNLA Director Legislative & Regulatory Affairs

Spring Fever

I’ve just returned from a visit to my grandchildren’s home in Pflugerville, Texas. When I arrived at the door they were in that giggly, can’t-stand-still behavior pattern of children with a secret they are just bursting to tell. There was a flurry of putting on shoes and jackets, going outside, and hiding our eyes until the surprise was revealed to us. The surprise? The mountain laurel in their front yard had burst into bloom overnight. We sniffed the sweet aroma, explored the insects who had found the blooms, looked with some concern to be sure there weren’t bees in the blossoms, noted that only the part of the tree that got the most sun was blooming, and generally investigated every aspect of the little tree. In an age when we think our children are little robots tied to electronic virtual worlds, this 3 and 6 year old were still in wonder at the blooming of a tree.

I will confess to you when I got home I made a careful investigation of my own mountain laurel, much older, large, and shadier, which showed only a glimmer of having any blooms. But looking out my office window, I can see the laurel on the hillside here is fully in bloom. I probably wouldn’t have noticed either tree if I hadn’t been treated to the adventure of seeing for a little while through a child’s eyes.

Last Friday I stopped by the grocery store on my way home from work. It was the last day for early voting and store was one of the polling places. I gave up on buying milk because the lines of voters were filling the parking lot. I encountered people who had never voted, people holding signs who had never volunteered with a campaign before. In a time when we think our political system may have been so broken no one could fix it, these people were as excited as my grandkids with their flowering tree.

Economic experts and our advertising contract cancellations tell us we can expect a challenging year this 2008. There is a lot of uncertainty. I don’t know who will win the election, I don’t know what the economy will do. But it’s spring in Texas. One thing I’m counting on is sooner or later that little mountain laurel will bloom, and so will all the tough little bluebonnets who are biding their time until conditions are right. I’m betting the nursery/landscape industry in Texas will follow their example.

Marilyn Good, Comm. Director

Skid Steer Loader Survey

This week TNLA got a telephone call from a contractor who provides air quality-related data for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). TCEQ is conducting a study to collect information on the number, type, and hours of use of skid steer loaders operating in the state. The results of the study will be used to update the state's estimated emissions for this equipment category.

Phone surveys will begin in March and continue through the spring. Most surveys will require 10 minutes or less to complete. If you receive a call regarding this study, your participation will remain anonymous and your answers will be confidential. Right now, it appears that the allocation of emissions to this equipment may be overstated in the air quality models. If it is, it is to our advantage to have that corrected. If it is accurate, it is important to know that as well. If you receive a call, or a message on your voicemail, please respond. This type of data is very important to us in our legislative and regulatory activities, and to TCEQ in planning for Texas’ compliance with the Clean Air Act.