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Jindal honored as Conservationist of the Year at conclusion of Inaugural CCA Convention E-mail
BATON ROUGE – U. S. Rep. Bobby Jindal, R-La., was honored as the top conservationist at the Coastal Conservation Association’s State Convention Banquet Saturday, February 4, 2006, at LSU’s Lod Cook Convention Center. CCA’s Jerry Stone Conservationist of the Year Award was presented to Jindal amidst a packed house celebrating a challenging year for coastal Louisiana.

“America is learning what CCA has been saying for years: Unless we pay attention to our great coastal resources, they will be lost,” said Jindal.

A member of the House Resources Committee, Jindal plays a leadership role in the U.S. Congress for marine conservation. “Bobby has been a stalwart supporter of responsible stewardship of our marine resources,” said CCA Chairman Jack Lawton, Jr. “I am so pleased to honor him in this way.”

Earlier in the day, CCA volunteers from Abbeville launched their Redfish Point Reef Restoration Project. Shell Pipeline Company officials pledged the first $100,000 to the project and were on hand to present the check. Once the project is complete in July 2006, the restored reef will be donated to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, a partner in the project. LDWF Secretary Dwight Landreneau was on hand to receive the donation. The Lafayette office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is also a major partner guiding this $250,000, privately funded project. The reef is located in the western portion of Vermilion Bay.

“Restoration of this reef will help with our coastal erosion problem and should help to bring back the abundant fisheries that existed in that part of Vermilion Bay for many years,” said Paul Bourgeois, Jr., Vermilion CCA Reef Coordinator. “While the state and the feds are our partners in this project, restoration of the reef will be completed with private funds donated specifically for this cause.”

Speakers from across the state and nation addressed a wide range of topics with convention goers. Dr. Denise Reed spoke on “Coastal Louisiana: A Land Lost;” Reed is a professor at the University of New Orleans and an adjunct professor with the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium & LSU. Berwick Duval II, a member of the Governor’s Advisory Commission on Coastal Protection, Restoration and Conservation addressed “Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and Their Effects on Our Coast.”

Dave Cummins, CCA America President, gave insight about CCA’s continuing work across the country. Another well-received panelist was Dr. Russell Nelson, CCA’s Gulf Fisheries Director who spoke on “The State of the Gulf Fishery.”

The Vermilion Chapter of CCA was named “Chapter of the Year.” Doug Major, president of the Pointe Coupee CCA Chapter, was named “Chapter President of the Year.”

CCA Louisiana’s top conservation award was recently renamed in memory of the late Dr. H. Jerry Stone, a stalwart conservationist who served on the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission and who was instrumental in the founding of CCA.

A non-profit public charity, the Coastal Conservation Association is dedicated to the conservation and protection of marine life.

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