For Immediate Release: May 2, 2008
Contact: Chris Macaluso
(225) 342-3968
chris.macaluso@la.gov

BATON ROUGE -- The Louisiana Governor's Office of Coastal Activities has announced the hiring of one of South Louisiana's foremost hurricane protection and wetlands restoration experts to aid and advise the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority.

Jerome Zeringue, who has served as the executive director of the Terrebonne Parish Levee and Conservation District since 1998, will be joining the GOCA staff May 13.

He will serve as a liaison between the CPRA and the regional levee districts across South Louisiana while also helping evaluate policy issues as the state moves forward with large-scale coastal restoration and hurricane protection efforts.

"I am looking forward to the opportunity to work with the CPRA and bring the knowledge and experience I have gained by working in Terrebonne Parish to the state's efforts to restore and protect our entire coast," Zeringue said. "This is an exciting time and opportunity for me to assist the CPRA in these vitally important efforts."

Zeringue's work over the past 10 years has included the effort to build comprehensive storm surge protection and wetlands restoration projects for Terrebonne and lower Lafourche Parish.

He has lobbied for better storm protection and coastal restoration efforts in South Louisiana to Congress, The U.S Army Corps of Engineers and State Legislators, all of which will continue in his new role, according to GOCA Director and CPRA Chairman Garret Graves.

"Jerome Zeringue brings an unmatched wealth of experience and knowledge of coastal restoration and protection efforts on many many fronts to the CPRA," Graves said. "He has worked on levee and wetland rebuilding projects at every level, from moving dirt to lobbying for funding. That experience will help the state tremendously as we move forward in implementing our Master Plan."

A native of Thibodaux, Zeringue holds a bachelor's degree in Zoology and a master's in Fisheries Biology both from Louisiana State University. He worked as a fisheries biologist at LSU with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on seafood regulations, then as the coastal resources director for the Nature Conservancy of Louisiana before taking on the role as the director of the Terrebonne Levee and Conservation District.

For more information about the CPRA's efforts to restore and protect Louisiana's coast, please contact Chris Macaluso at 225-342-3968 or by email at chris.macaluso@la.gov.

The Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority's mandate is to develop, implement and enforce a comprehensive coastal protection and restoration master plan. For the first time in Louisiana's history, this single state authority will integrate coastal restoration and hurricane protection by marshalling the expertise and resources of the Department of Natural Resources, the Department of Transportation and Development, and other state agencies, to speak with one clear voice for the future of Louisiana's coast. Working with federal, state and local political subdivisions, including levee districts, the CPRA will work to establish a safe and sustainable coast that will protect our communities, the nation's critical energy infrastructure, and our bountiful natural resources for generations to come. The CPRA of Louisiana was established by Act 8 of the 1st Extraordinary Session of 2005