HLS 15RS-3137 ORIGINAL
2015 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 192
BY REPRESENTATIVE THIBAUT
COMMENDATIONS: Commends Mike Wood on his retirement after thirty-seven years
of service at the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2To commend fisheries biologist Mike Wood on his retirement after thirty-seven years of
3 service at the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and to thank him for his long-
4 time service to the state of Louisiana and its citizens.
5 WHEREAS, Mike Wood is a true North Louisianian, born and raised in Monroe,
6Louisiana, and educated at the University of Louisiana at Monroe with a Masters of Science
7degree in Biology; and
8 WHEREAS, Mike is married to the lovely Terri and together they have three
9children, twins Jake and Jordan and sister Samantha; and
10 WHEREAS, Mike has held numerous positions during his thirty-seven-year career
11at the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries starting in 1978 as a student worker in the
12Monroe office and then serving as District 2 Manager from 1995 through 2008, Biologist
13DCL-B specializing in fisheries management from 2008 through 2010, and Director of
14Inland Fisheries from 2010 until his retirement in 2015; and
15 WHEREAS, in his capacity as biologist and administrator for the department, Mike
16was instrumental in the development of the original Louisiana black bass management plan,
17he oversaw the completion of seventy-six water body management plans, he played an
18integral role in standardizing recreational fishing regulations in the border waters between
19Louisiana and Texas, he initiated bass and crappie stock assessments to evaluate the
20effectiveness of regulations on Louisiana waters, he was instrumental in the removal of the
21fourteen-inch minimum length limit in the Atchafalaya Basin, he played an integral role in
Page 1 of 3 HLS 15RS-3137 ORIGINAL
HCR NO. 192
1development of the integrated pest management approach to controlling aquatic nuisance
2vegetation and has improved overall efficiency in the aquatic weed eradication efforts, and
3he assisted in the revision of the departmental stocking policy in an effort to increase
4stocking success and efficiency; and
5 WHEREAS, Mike was a recipient of the secretary's Employee of Year Award for the
6work he did on Caney Lake fisheries conservation; and
7 WHEREAS, in addition to the valuable work that he did as a biologist and
8administrator for the department, Mike also represented the department on numerous special
9committees including the Southern Division of the American Fisheries Society Reservoir
10Committee from 1996 through 2010, the Atchafalaya Basin Program from 2010 through
112015, the Fish Contaminant Advisory Workgroup from 2008 through 2010, and the
12Mississippi Interstate Cooperative Resource Association from 2010 through 2015, even
13traveling to Washington, D.C., in 2011 and 2012 with the Mississippi Interstate Cooperative
14Resource Association to address members of the United States Congress concerning issues
15related to aquatic nuisance species including the Asian Carp; and
16 WHEREAS, Mike has also assisted in the development of the Baton Rouge LSU
17Lakes Renovation Project currently underway in Baton Rouge; and
18 WHEREAS, Mike also chaired certain advisory and technical groups in his capacity
19with the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries including the Atchafalaya Basin Program
20Technical Advisory Workgroup from 2008 through 2010 and the False River Watershed
21Council from 2012 through 2015; and
22 WHEREAS, the False River Watershed Council was created to develop a
23scientifically based coordinated plan for the restoration and sustainability of the water
24quality and natural habitat of the False River watershed; and
25 WHEREAS, although other plans for the health of False River had been developed
26in the past, those plans did not address all the concerns of the citizens and property owners,
27as Mike put it, "That document was a fisheries management plan that didn’t really address
28some of the concerns the rest of the public has. A lot of the people out there don’t fish, so
29we had to come up with a better way to approach it. Our report is addressing the overall
Page 2 of 3 HLS 15RS-3137 ORIGINAL
HCR NO. 192
1health of False River by expanding our focus from fisheries to all these other different things
2like erosion and sedimentation"; and
3 WHEREAS, it was Mike's gentle guidance as chair and his ability to bring to the
4table many people of differing viewpoints and perspectives and his firm hand as he guided
5the council through their multiple-year-long efforts to come to an agreement as to the
6optimal plan for the management and protection of the resources within the False River
7Watershed; and
8 WHEREAS, the False River Watershed Council's report to the legislature entitled
9"Managing False River Watershed Resources" was designated the 2013-2014 "Best
10document that provides information to the legislature" by the Legislative Research
11Librarians staff section of the National Conference of State Legislatures.
12 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
13commend fisheries biologist Mike Wood on his retirement after thirty-seven years of service
14at the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and extend a special thank you to him for his
15long-time service to the state of Louisiana and its citizens.
16 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be forwarded to Mike
17Wood.
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HCR 192 Original 2015 Regular Session Thibaut
Commends Mike Wood on his retirement after 37 years of service to the Department of
Wildlife and Fisheries.
Page 3 of 3