Sea
Grant Among Top Conservation Award Winners
Posted:
3/3/04
Times-Picayune
environment reporter, Mark Schleifstein was honored Saturday
evening (Feb. 28) with the Louisiana Wildlife Federation's
Governors' Award. The award is presented annually to the person
or organization deemed to have made the most outstanding contribution
toward the protection and wise use of the state's natural
resources — air, soil and minerals, forests, waters,
fish and wildlife during the previous year from among nominations
submitted by the public. Also among the award winners was
Louisiana Sea Grant.
Five individuals,
two organizations and a company were also recognized for their
outstanding conservation achievements in eight categories
in 2004. A panel of independent judges with expertise in a
wide range of conservation fields made the selections.
Randy
Lanctot, executive director of the Louisiana Wildlife Federation
had high praise for Sea Grant’s educational efforts.
“Louisiana is a state of fishers and fish consumers
like no other. As might be expected, a lot of research, writing
and education about fisheries and fish resources has been
produced over the years. Much of it is still applicable to
current questions and issues, especially with respect to the
impacts of coastal land loss and the effects of restoration
projects. But when you need it, how do you get it?
“A communications committee of Louisiana Sea Grant Extension
has solved that problem by harnessing the capabilities of
the Internet to bring a world of fish, fisheries and wetland
conservation information to our fingertips through the Web
site, www.seagrantfish.lsu.edu.” The Web site committee
included three Sea Grant Extension Agents in the LSU Agricultural
Center (Kevin Savoie, Mark Schexnayder, and Rex Caffey), the
Sea Grant Extension Fisheries Specialist in the LSU Agricultural
Center (Jerald Horst), and two from Sea Grant Communications
(Melissa Dufour and Marilyn Barrett-O’Leary). Sea Grant’s
award was in the category of education.
Schleifstein
received the Governor’s Award for his environmental
writing and particularly for the series, “Washing Away,”
an expose on Louisiana’s coastal land loss and the increasing
vulnerability of coastal communities to tropical storms. His
work has given renewed momentum to the coastal restoration
effort and was influential in the adoption of three critical
state constitutional amendments at the polls last fall, Lanctot
said. Schleifstein was also commended for convening a major
conference of environmental journalists in New Orleans that
succeeded in informing hundreds of key communicators about
loss under the America’s Wetland campaign.
Other
winners by category were:
- Professional
- Robert E. Stewart, Jr. director of the National Wetlands
Research Center in Lafayette, for developing and guiding
the Nation’s premier wetlands research facility and
lending its expertise to better understand and preserve
wetland resources.
- Volunteer
- James Walker Moore, Jr. of Monroe for dedicating his time,
skills and energy to conserve wildlife in his community
though his work with Friends of Black Bayou and the Black
Bayou Lake National Wildlife Refuge.
- Youth
- The Ascension Parish Youth Council for numerous clean-up
and beautification projects in the parish, particularly
the effort to restore New River.
- Business
- Roy O. Martin Lumber Company for leadership in forest
stewardship and wildlife management on almost 600,000 acres
of company forestland in Louisiana.
- Elected
Official - Senator Reggie P. Dupre, Jr. of Bourg for
championing the cause of coastal restoration in the Louisiana
Legislature.
- Communicator
- John N. Fesher, Outdoor Editor for the Lake Charles American
Press for advocating, in word and deed, the preservation
of Louisiana’s outdoor heritage.
- Organization
- The Toledo Bend Lake Association for being Toledo Bend
Reservoir’s chief citizen stewards and tenacious guardians
of its natural resources.
The Louisiana
Wildlife Federation is a statewide conservation education
and advocacy organization with over 13,000 members and 35
affiliate groups. Established in 1940, it is affiliated with
the National Wildlife Federation and represents a broad constituency
of conservationists including hunters, fishers, campers, birders,
boaters, and other outdoor enthusiasts.
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