Scouting, Volume 78, Number 4, September 1990 Page: 9
98, E1-E12, [8] p. : ill. (some col.) ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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president of Patrick Moore Land-
scape Architects in Alexandria, La.
"Whether we're working with a
10- by 10-foot plot or 1,000 acres,
everything we do is both positive and
creative. That's the real appeal of this
profession."
Moore, who holds a degree in
landscape architecture from Louisi-
ana State University (one of about
30 universities across the country
offering four-year programs in the
field), has operated his own com-
pany for eight years and has found
his career rewarding in many ways.
"There hasn't been one day dur-
ing those eight years when I haven't
been excited about coming to work
in the morning," he says. "You can
make money in a lot of professions,
but I can't think of any that offer
more satisfaction than this one. It's
still a pioneering profession—one
that's barely 100 years old in this
country—and I think it has an al-
most limitless future."
Approximately 25,000 landscape
architects now practice in the
United States, and opportunities are
available in all three major sec-
tors: public, private, and academic.
Entry-level salaries for new gradu-
ates average $18,000 per year, and
experienced professionals can ex-
pect to earn between $25,000 and
$50,000 annually.
A four-year degree in landscape
architecture is a requirement for all
professionals. Degree programs
place emphasis on the same type of
mathematics courses required for
engineers, although not as much
math is generally required as for a
traditional architectural degree.
A capability for "structural visu-
alization" is also very important to
a prospective landscape architect,
Moore says.
"If you can look at a pile of boards
and think, 'Hey, I could build a bench
out of that!' or see a bare spot of
ground and visualize how good it
would look with flowering plants
growing on it, then you have this
ability," he explains.
Landscape architects are and al-
ways have been in the forefront of the
environmental movement, and the
stronger that movement becomes,
the more professionals will be
needed.
"With all the focus on the envi-
ronment today, we're really coming
into the limelight," Moore says, "and
I don't see this changing for the next
25 to 30 years at least."
Probably just as important as
specialized education and training to
long-term success and satisfaction in
the field is what Moore calls "an af-
finity for the earth."
"You need to like being outdoors
and working physically with the
land," he says. "Going on hikes and
camp-outs as a Boy Scout and seeing
the beauty of the outdoors was prob-
ably what got me interested in the
first place. And even mowing grass
when I was a teen-ager played a part,
too—although I didn't always enjoy
it very much at the time."
So the next time somebody asks
you to drag out the lawn mower and
hedge clippers, don't look at it as just
another onerous round of "yard
work." It may be the first step to-
ward a career as a landscape archi-
tect. H
For more information about the field of land-
scape architecture, write the American Soci-
ety of Landscape Architects, 4401 Connecti-
cut Ave. N.W., Fifth Floor, Washington, D.C.
20008-2302.
- ' ■ II
H cc
119
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 78, Number 4, September 1990, periodical, September 1990; Irving, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth353668/m1/59/: accessed May 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.