The Connecticut Olmsted Award is given annually by CTASLA to an organization or person who has demonstrated outstanding commitment to stewardship of the land. The award is named after Connecticut native Frederick Law Olmsted, who founded the landscape architecture profession in the 19th century, and is best known for his creation of New York’s Central Park as well as such prominent Connecticut landscapes as Bridgeport’s Beardsley and Seaside Parks, New Britain's Walnut Hill Park, and Hartford’s Pope Park.

“In his dozen years in the legislature, Senator Roraback has made significant contributions in the area of environmental advocacy and stewardship in Connecticut,” said CTASLA Vice President Rod Cameron, who will present the award on Thursday.

“He believes, as Olmsted did, that public investments in the protection of land and water will provide benefits to society at large in perpetuity,” said Cameron, a landscape architect with Brookfield-based CCA, LLC.

Senator Roraback has repeatedly sponsored and supported legislation aimed at protecting Connecticut’s environment and preserving its threatened landscapes. His bills have focused on clean air and water, farmland and open space preservation, control of invasive plants, forestry management, historic landscape preservation and funding of greenways and other kinds of land conservation.

Of his passion for careful stewardship of the state’s natural resources, Senator Roraback has written, “Connecticut has much worth preserving, and we should act while we still have the opportunity to protect that which has long provided the quality of life enjoyed by all in our state.”

Past recipients of the Connecticut Olmsted Award include Senator Joseph Lieberman (1997); Jack Shannahan, Connecticut Historical Commission (1999); (then) Lieutenant Governor M. Jodi Rell and (then) Senate President Pro Tempore Kevin B. Sullivan (2002); the Town of Simsbury (2003); the Green Valley Institute (2004); State Senator Bill Finch (2005) and former DEP Deputy Commissioner David Leff (2006).

Frederick Law Olmsted Day was created by the state legislature in 2005, and designates April 26 (Olmsted’s birthday) annually as a day of celebration and reflection. The 2007 Olmsted Day Conference is an all-day program which begins at the Barnum Museum and culminates in a three-hour bus tour of Olmsted’s significant contributions in the area which helped to solidify Bridgeport’s reputation as “Park City.”

The conference and award are also part of CTASLA’s observance of National Landscape Architecture Month, being celebrated across the country during April by the 48 chapters of the American Society of Landscape Architecture.

Founded in 1899, the American Society of Landscape Architects is the national professional association for landscape architects, representing more than 16,000 members. Landscape architecture is a comprehensive discipline of land analysis, planning, design, management, preservation and rehabilitation. ASLA promotes the landscape architecture profession and advances the practice through advocacy, education, communication and fellowship. Learn more about landscape architecture online at www.asla.org. For more information on activities of the Connecticut Chapter, please see our website at www.ctasla.org.