Lauren
I want to point out that there are many landscape architects working for the federal government as well as state and local governments too. I’m one of them and I work for the US Forest Service and worked for the National Park Service too. A lot of people wonder why would the USFS or NPS need landscape architects…aren’t forests and parks already “beautiful” what is there to design etc.
I work on plans and designs for campgrounds, picnic areas, trails and vistas, road medians, telecommunications sites, logging operations, snow play areas, power and telephone transmission corridors etc. I also do a lot of writing, mostly for NEPA compliance for visual impacts of an equally broad array of projects. ADA and ABA requirements and compliance is also a part of my position. Lastly I do do a lot of contract management to implement and maintain a lot of the aforementioned projects. Like many of the other respondents, I also spend a great deal of time justifying my existence to the rest of the USFS staff (especially engineers, nothing against them…my dad is one), but having a NEPA requirement helps justify me, although they often categorize me along with NEPA as a nuisance to productivity…oh well!
Do I get to do planting plans and a lot of sexy designs…no. Most of my work is to make my work and the projects I’m working on as invisible as possible to the common visitor. Sometimes I think of myself as the anti-landscape architect while everyone I went to school with designs parks, commercial and residential spaces to be noticed, most of my accomplishments are when people don’t notice the cellphone tower intruding into their view etc.
Just thought I’d throw out this type of work that landscape architects do too to provide you with a different perspective.
