I am an undergraduate student in Virginia Tech's accredited Landscape Architecture program, and I seek to protect the integrity of my chosen profession. The topics covered in my education are not trivial matters; grading, storm water management, traffic systems design, proper construction methods for retaining walls, pavements, and other landscape structures, the proper siting of buildings and critical areas of study on environmental sustainability within the built environment - these are responsibilities that should be entrusted to licensed professionals who are confirmed to be competent to design these systems. As students, the three axioms of "health, safety and welfare" are drilled into our brains. When I graduate, I do not wish to be on unequal footing with my friends and colleagues currently studying Architecture and Engineering, whom I have had the pleasure of collaborating with on advanced projects in sustainable building technology and community planning. The expertise of Landscape Architects has significant overlap with Architecture and Engineering, and Landscape Architects often lead multidisciplinary projects with the former professionals. A removal of licensure would make it extremely difficult for myself and my colleagues to establish authority and credibility in those multidisciplinary projects, and would function as a state-sanctioned market advantage for related licensed professions. This would be unfair to me and all Landscape Architecture students currently aspiring to make big impacts in the built world. 

I offer my strong support for the continued regulation of Landscape Architecture.

Thank you.