Office of Conservation

DNR’S COASTAL ADMINISTRATOR HONORED FOR CONSERVATION EFFORTS AND COAST 2050 PLAN

Dr. Bill Good, Department of Natural Resources’ Coastal Restoration Administrator, was given the Louisiana Wildlife Federation’s Professional Conservationist of the Year award in February at ceremonies held in Lafayette. Good was honored for his leadership and dedication to the Coast 2050 initiative.

Coast 2050 is a strategic and scientific plan to sustain coastal resources in decades to come. It also places emphasis on assuring an integrated multiple use approach to ecosystem management. Federal, state and local planners, biologists, and the public contributed to the writing of the plan. Coast 2050 stresses better stewardship of our coastal region and the need to invest $14 billion to save Louisiana’s national identity. Each year, fisheries landings alone, contribute more than $300 million to the state’s economy, providing jobs in the fishing and processing industries.

Coast 2050 was jointly adopted by the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection, and Restoration Act Task Force (Breaux Act) and the Louisiana Wetlands Conservation and Restoration Authority. Additionally, all twenty parishes in the coastal zone have endorsed the plan.

Good has served ten years as head of DNR’s coastal restoration division and is especially noted for laying the groundwork for dozens of Coast 2050 meetings held with citizens and local officials. From conception to conclusion, Good worked to draft a workable plan and authored both the Principal Report and Executive Summary.

The Wildlife Federation has 35 local affiliate groups and 13,000 members in the state.