Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional
Certification Program
Each year, thousands of small scale landscape
restoration projects are installed in Maryland.
Local Governments use landscape based
restoration projects to meet their pollution reduction
targets. Stormwater Rebate programs alone install
hundreds annually.
Non profits and homeowners install projects to
retrofit residential and community properties.
Funders invest heavily in landscape restoration.
Developers are required to use Environmental Site
Design on all new and re-development projects.
What are small scale landscape restoration
practices?
•
•
•
•
•
Rain Barrels and Cisterns
Rain Gardens and Bio Swales
Conservation Landscaping with Native Plants
Tree Plantings (Buffers and Reforestation)
Maintenance, including Turf and Invasive
Management
Each year, many projects FAIL because they were
not designed, installed or maintained properly.
A 2012 study in the Severn River
Watershed concluded that 48% of rain
gardens surveyed were failing to
provide any water quality protection at
all.
Can you find the rain garden?
A community amenity or a candidate for the
mower?
If we want Green Infrastructure to succeed, we need an
army of Landscape Professionals to create and
maintain Functional and Aesthetic projects.
As a consumer, how do
you know which
contractors have the skills
and knowledge to produce
results?
As a contractor, how do you
differentiate yourself from
everyone else who says they
know how to build a rain
garden?
Chesapeake Bay Landscape
Professional Certification will provide a
standardized evaluation of the skills and
knowledge of landscape contractors and
a reliable marketing tool for qualified
professionals.
Why CBLP Certification?
• The number of small scale landscape restoration practices needed
to meet nutrient and sediment reduction goals is increasing.
• Anticipated benefits are not being realized because many are
improperly designed, built or maintained.
• Local governments, non-profits and property owners need qualified
professionals to implement practices.
• Landscape Professionals need a centralized method to gain and
market skills.
Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional
Certification Program (CBLP)
Individual certification for Landscape
Professionals
• Certification travels with the professional, increasing
marketability to employers and customers.
• At least one CBLP Certified Professional should be on
site at all times as a project is being
constructed/maintained to ensure compliance with
principles.
Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional
Certification Program (CBLP)
Focus is “small scale” landscape restoration practices:
•
•
•
•
•
Rain Barrels and Cisterns
Rain Gardens and Bio Swales
Conservation Landscaping with Native Plants
Tree Plantings (Buffers and Reforestation)
Maintenance, including Turf and Invasive
Management
Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional
Certification Program (CBLP)
Three Tracks:
• Design
• Installation
• Maintenance, including Turf and
Invasive Management
Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional
Certification Program (CBLP)
CBLP Certification will:
• Align with the State Stormwater Manual to ensure pollution credit
compliance.
• Be developed in collaboration with leaders who have been
training landscape professionals.
• Nest within existing trade certifications.
Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional
Certification Program (CBLP)
Certification will require:
• Application
• Demonstrated experience
• An exam with hands on component
For most Landscape Professionals, preparatory
training will be required to pass the certification
exam. Preparatory trainings may be offered by
community colleges and non-profit organizations.
Benefits of CBLP to Consumers and Local Governments
• Protects stormwater infrastructure investments.
• Assists local governments meet sediment and nutrient reduction
goals.
• Supports local government efforts to train landscape contractors.
Benefits of CBLP for Landscape Professionals
• Increases marketability for landscape professionals.
• Elevates the earning potential and competitive edge of landscape
firms by raising the skill level of employees.
• Reduces the number of different trainings that contractors must
attend to be qualified for jobs.
• Acts as a catalyst to steer the profession towards conservation
landscape practices to benefit the Bay and the bio-diversity of the
region.
Supporting the landscaping community
...transforming the Chesapeake Bay
Founded in 2003, CCLC now has over 300 professionals representing
the Conservation Landscaping Field.
CCLC Board of Directors is composed of representatives from:
Local Government Stormwater Programs
Non profit organizations
Landscape Professionals
State and Federal Agencies
Regional Presence
The long term goal of the Chesapeake Conservation Landscaping
Council is to advance conservation landscaping practices that have
significant ecological benefits for communities throughout the
Chesapeake Bay.
Maryland Sea Grant Extension
Watershed Protection & Restoration Program
Part of the the University of Maryland Extension Program and the University
of Maryland Sea Grant College
Partner in the Watershed Assistance Collaborative
Team of 5 “on the ground” watershed restoration specialists
Services provided to local and county governments and community partners
include:
• capacity building
• grants assistance
• project implementation assistance
• outreach and education efforts
Partner Roles
• CCLC and UMD Sea Grant Extension will lead a consortium of
organizations who set certification standards, screen applications,
prepare and proctor certification exam, and maintain a certification
database. We invite all of you to review the certification standards.
• Community colleges and other partners offer preparatory training.
• Local governments and non profits preferentially use CBLPs for
projects.
• Trade organizations and non profit watershed groups promote
certification.
Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional
Certification Program (CBLP)
Timeline
2013
Recruit Funding, Engage Partners, Hire Certification Coordinator.
2014-2015
Develop certification structure and exam, develop training curriculum. Pilot
Certification Training in 2 Maryland Counties.
2016
Expand certification to other Bay jurisdictions.
Once developed, CBLP will be financially self sustaining.
Become a CBLP Partner
Local Governments
• Consider preferential contracting with CBLPs for design,
installation and maintenance of stormwater projects – for both
pubic projects and for stormwater rebate programs.
• Consider preferentially contracting with CBLPs for maintenance of
all public property (schools, parks, office parks).
• Have your staff certified (I & P, P & Z, DPW).
• Consider becoming one of the two counties in Maryland to pilot this
certification.
Become a CBLP Partner
Watershed Organizations
• If appropriate, consider offering preparatory training or help to
administer field components of the certification exam.
• Consider preferential contracting with CBLPs.
• Promote CBLP among your members.
Become a CBLP Partner
Community Colleges
• Offer complementary courses to prepare professionals for the
CBLP exam.
Trade Organizations
• CBLP will nest within your existing trade certifications.
• Promote CBLP among your members.
Become a CBLP Partner
Landscape Companies
• Review certification process to ensure accessibility to all
Landscape Professionals.
• Hire CBLPs to increase your company’s marketability and
opportunities to bid on projects.
• Promote certification among your existing staff.
• Certify your staff.
• Use CBLP to promote conservation landscaping practices to
customers.
Become a CBLP Partner
Funders
Consider adopting CBLP Certification
as a key strategy to ensure pollution
reduction throughout the Bay
Watershed.
Become a CBLP Partner
Submit a letter of support for our upcoming grant proposal to
the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
Send letters to:
Jenny Guillaume by May 25th
jennifer.guillaume@dc.gov
Questions?