2008 Stewardship Awards Banquet
|
The Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana recognized seven award winners as outstanding stewards of Louisiana's coast at the thirteenth annual Coastal Stewardship Awards Banquet on Friday, May 9th at the LSU Faculty Club in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
|
Dr. Mike Poirrier- Lifetime Achievement Award
|
|
Dr. Mike Poirrier will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award. Dr. Poirrier is the director of the UNO Estuarine Lab and was a founding member of the Pontchartrain Research Committee, which established the “Basics of the Basin” Research Symposium in 1992. He is still one of the most active planners for the upcoming 9th symposium, while also being President of the Gulf Estuarine Society. Dr. Poirrier has a long history of pioneering biological research on Lake Pontchartrain. Months after Hurricane Katrina, Dr. Poirrier still managed to acquire key water quality and clam data on the lake documenting anoxia and widespread clam mortality related to Hurricane Katrina. This persistent dedication of clam research recently derived great community benefit by its use in the MRGO closure study. His clam research was acknowledged in the Corps’ MRGO closure report and was critical to the closure decision and assessment of impacts. After 39 years at UNO, Dr. Poirrier is retiring, but as Professor Emeritus at UNO. He has authored 15 book chapters, 51 journal articles, 33 technical reports, 125 presentations at professional meetings, and served as major professor for 29 graduate students.
| |
Coastal Stewardship Awards
|
|
Dr. Joe Suhayda will receive the Coalition’s 2008 Coastal Stewardship Award. Dr. Suhayda is a retired Coastal Engineer, who has had an extraordinary role in Louisiana’s coast. Dr. Suhayda started to get involved in modeling of storm surge in the late 1990’s. What he discovered in his own models was of such concern that he became vocal about the potential threat of storm surge to southeast Louisiana. His data was so compelling and his modeled surge heights were greater than anyone had anticipated that he could not simply stay within the normal bounds as a research scientist. Dr. Suhayda, along with a few others who had the knowledge and the courage to speak were construed as alarmists and in some cases their message was actually suppressed. However, it was these actions which led to the Hurricane Pam exercise of which Dr. Suhayda participated. This exercise provoked local parish and state officials to develop more serious evacuation plans prior to Hurricane Katrina. Dr. Suhayda is a volunteer member of the Multiple Lines of Defense Assessment Team and has been one of the most active members. Dr. Suhayda has made a profound difference to the coast and its residents.
| |
|
Mr. John Giambrone and the students at Pierre Part Elementary School have been awarded a Coastal Stewardship Award for their work and involvement in the Coastal Roots Program. Mr. Giambrone is the 8th grade earth science teacher at Pierre Part Elementary School. His Coastal Roots Program was among one of the first six schools that began the Coastal Roots Program in 2001. His Coastal Roots Program produces around 500 cypress seedlings annually. Each fall his students are involved in a planting in an area in need of their seedlings. Over the seven years that John and his Pierre Part students have participated in the Coastal Roots Program, they have produced over 3500 healthy trees to plant in their local wetlands. Around 80 students have participated in the plantings each year, which also exposes their parents to the critical issues that our wetlands and coastal residence face on a daily basis. John Giambrone and his Pierre Part Elementary middle school students are true leaders and have made a large and steady contribution to helping conserve and restore our fragile Louisiana wetlands.
| |
Mr. Gregory M. Grandy has been awarded a Coastal Stewardship Award. Mr. Grandy is a Senior Project Manager with the Coastal Engineering Division of the Department of Natural Resources. He currently serves as the program manager for the Louisiana Coastal Impact Assistance Program (CIAP). The Louisiana CIAP Program will provide approximately $510 million in funding for qualified coastal conservation and infrastructure projects to the State of Louisiana and its 19 coastal parishes. As part of the key leadership team that managed the development of the CIAP Plan, Mr. Grandy worked closely with Minerals Management Service and the 19 LA coastal parishes in the development of the CIAP Plan. He worked with all 19 coastal parishes to assist them in developing their portions of the CIAP to be consistent with the State’s portion. Mr. Grandy also handled, with almost no assistance from others, the development and completion of the Brown Marsh effort. He also served as the project manager on the Little Lake CWPPRA project, which was and still is the largest marsh creation project completed in the State of Louisiana.
| |
|
Mrs. Marietta Greene has been awarded a Coastal Stewardship Award for her work to protect, restore and sustain wetland habitats in Louisiana. For over 20 years, she has worked with local, regional, and national agencies and organizations to support meaningful restoration efforts throughout coastal Louisiana. She has recently worked with Ducks Unlimited, NRCS and other partners to restore 689 acres of coastal marsh on her property in Jefferson Parish. Since the inception of CWPPRA, Mrs. Green has worked closely with the NRCS and the LA DNR on planning and implementing six CWPPRA projects on Madison Land Company property. Mrs. Greene is currently a LA Landowners Association board member, which represents hundreds of large and small landowners across the state. She is also an active supervisor for the Crescent Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) board for ten years.
| |
|
The America’s WETLAND Conservation Corps has been awarded a Coastal Stewardship Award for their work in restoring Louisiana’s wetlands. The AWCC has engaged 22 members and hundreds of volunteers in hands-on coastal restoration and recovery activities, including vegetative planting, restorative interventions, community-wide clean-ups, and hands-on educational projects for members, volunteers and communities. In 2007, AWCC members logged over 18,000 hours of service. By December 2007, AWCC had recruited 700 volunteers who logged more than 2,000 hours and completed 30 projects, which was over their stated goals. AWCC’s presence in the community has had a large-scale impact on the public’s outlook on conservationism.
| |
|
The National Wildlife Federation’s Coastal Louisiana Habitat Restoration Initiative lead by Rebecca Triche and Jenny Reeverts has been awarded a Coastal Stewardship Award for assisting wildlife and citizens recovering from the impacts of two storms. The NWF’s Coastal LA Habitat Initiative focuses on more than 13 public and private sites impacted by the hurricanes. NWF’s initiative has also partnered with the Louisiana Native Plant Initiative to collect native seed to increase the amount and variety of available plants in support of long-term recovery efforts. The initiative recruited volunteers through the NWF website and through outreach to universities, nonprofit organizations and other disaster recovery initiatives working in Louisiana. Through March 2008, 1000 volunteers have planted 14,000 plugs of smooth cord grass, 15,000 longleaf pine seedlings, 25, 300 bottomland hardwood seedlings and saplings; cleared invasive species from 90 acres of public lands; removed 10 tons of trash and debris; collected 50 pounds of native plant seed on remnant coastal prairies and longleaf pine savannahs; cut or restored 5 miles of trails to allow access to hurricane-impacted areas and build and installed 281 wood duck nest boxes.
| |
|
