Louisiana Governor-Elect Appoints New Leader for Coastal Restoration

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

Emily Guidry Schatzel, National Wildlife Federation, 225.253.9781, schatzele@nwf.org
Jacques Hebert, National Audubon Society, 504.264.6849, jhebert@audubon.org
Elizabeth Van Cleve, Environmental Defense Fund, 202.553.2543, evancleve@edf.org
Jimmy Frederick, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, 225.317.2046, jimmy.frederick@crcl.org
John Lopez, Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, 504.421.7348, jlopez@saveourlake.org

Louisiana Governor-Elect Appoints New Leader for Coastal Restoration

(BATON ROUGE, La. – January 5, 2016) Today, Louisiana Governor-Elect John Bel Edwards announced that Johnny Bradberry is his appointee for Executive Assistant to the Governor for Coastal Activities. In this position, Bradberry will also serve as the Chairperson of the state’s Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority. Bradberry, who is a former Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, succeeds current Chair Chip Kline, who took the position in February 2015.

National and local conservation groups working together on Mississippi River Delta restoration – Environmental Defense Fund, National Audubon Society, National Wildlife Federation, Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation and Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana – released the following statement:

“This is a critical appointment, given the state of our coast and increased funding opportunities to restore it. Perhaps no other area of responsibility offers as much hope, or peril, for our state’s future.

“We very much appreciate the dedication, commitment and progress of the CPRA leadership to date, and look forward to working with Governor-elect Edwards’ choice to continue and expand that leadership. We expect Mr. Bradberry’s long record of private sector and public service to serve the state and the coast well, and offer any and all assistance to achieve that result.”