HLS 20RS-1352 ORIGINAL
2020 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 99
BY REPRESENTATIVES WHEAT AND KERNER
COMMENDATIONS: Commends the Pontchartrain Conservancy, formerly known as the
Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, on thirty years of working towards
environmental sustainability and stewardship of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin
through scientific research, education, and advocacy
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2To commend and congratulate the Pontchartrain Conservancy, formerly known as the Lake
3 Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, on thirty years of working towards environmental
4 sustainability and stewardship of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin through scientific
5 research, education, and advocacy.
6 WHEREAS, the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation was founded in 1989 by
7scientists and community leaders, in response to concerns voiced throughout the basin, to
8be the public's voice, dedicated to restoring and preserving the water quality, coastlines, and
9habitats of the entire Pontchartrain Basin; and
10 WHEREAS, the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit
11organization consisting of a board of directors representing Basin parishes and state
12regulatory agencies whose mission is to drive environmental sustainability and stewardship
13through scientific research, education, and advocacy; and
14 WHEREAS, the Pontchartrain Basin comprises over ten thousand square miles of
15land in southeast Louisiana and Mississippi; and
16 WHEREAS, the Lake Pontchartrain Basin is one of the largest estuarine systems in
17the Gulf of Mexico containing over twenty-two essential habitats and encompassing both
18rural and urban land use in the most densely populated region in Louisiana, including metro
19New Orleans and the state capital, Baton Rouge; and
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HCR NO. 99
1 WHEREAS, the Lake Pontchartrain Basin is the heart of the region's commercial and
2recreational fisheries and the center of southeastern Louisiana's unique cultural heritage, and
3the estuary's habitats provide important ecological, cultural, and economic benefits to the
4entire region; and
5 WHEREAS, estuaries and coastal waters provide essential habitat for seventy-five
6percent of America's commercial fish catch and eighty to ninety percent of the recreational
7fish catch while at the same time, estuaries protect landowners from floodwaters and act as
8storm buffers, guarding residential areas from hurricanes; and
9 WHEREAS, the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation's programs focus on
10improving water quality to improve Lake Pontchartrain, coastal restoration in the
11Pontchartrain Basin, and education of the public about the importance of the Pontchartrain
12Basin to the economic and environmental health of the region; and
13 WHEREAS, the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation is committed to studying,
14evaluating, and sharing data related to water quality conditions and health, and it has been
15instrumental in educating the public on water quality issues at both local and regional levels;
16and
17 WHEREAS, the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation's efforts were responsible for
18the removal of Lake Pontchartrain and eight other local water bodies from the Clean Water's
19Act, Section 303(d) Impaired Water Bodies List, allowing people to return to swimming and
20recreational activities; and
21 WHEREAS, Louisiana is facing a coastal land loss crisis, and the Lake Pontchartrain
22Basin Foundation has contributed efforts towards coastal restoration, including the planting
23of over seventy-five thousand trees, the engineering behind the creation of new wetlands,
24and a six-hundred acre delta; and
25 WHEREAS, the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation has deployed thirteen artificial
26reefs in the Pontchartrain Basin to help sustain and bolster oyster and other fisheries in the
27region; and
28 WHEREAS, the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation reconstructed and restored the
29New Canal Lighthouse on Lakeshore Drive in New Orleans after it was severely damaged
30by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, incorporating original wood from the 1890
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HCR NO. 99
1lighthouse that stood on the site, and now operates as the Lake Pontchartrain Basin
2Foundation New Canal Lighthouse Museum and Education Center; and
3 WHEREAS, the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation has elected to change its name
4to the Pontchartrain Conservancy to better reflect its mission, as it has developed and
5evolved over the past thirty years into an organization not only committed to restoring the
6Lake, but also the entire Pontchartrain Basin region.
7 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
8commend and congratulate the Pontchartrain Conservancy, formerly the Lake Pontchartrain
9Basin Foundation, on thirty years of working towards environmental sustainability and
10stewardship of the Pontchartrain Basin through scientific research, education, and advocacy.
11 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be forwarded to the
12executive director of the Pontchartrain Conservancy.
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 99 Original 2020 Regular Session Wheat
Commends the Pontchartrain Conservancy, formerly the Lake Pontchartrain Basin
Foundation, on thirty years of working towards environmental sustainability and stewardship
of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin through scientific research, education, and advocacy.
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