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