Conservation in the Atchafalaya Basin
PANEL DESCRIPTION
The Atchafalaya Basin is the largest river swamp in the United States and a vital ecological, cultural, and economic resource for Louisiana and the Gulf South. This panel will examine the role of the Atchafalaya Basinkeeper in protecting and restoring the Basin through advocacy, monitoring, community engagement, and legal action. Panelists will discuss key environmental challenges facing the Basin, including water quality, industrial impacts, climate change, and wetland loss, as well as the legal tools and regulatory frameworks used to address these threats.
Moderated by Mindy Miller.
BRENNAN SPOOR, ATCHAFALAYA BASINKEEPERS
Brennan attended Tulane Law School, where he spent a year with Tulane’s Environmental Law Clinic and graduated with a Certificate in Environmental Law. Originally from Kansas City, Brennan is an avid hiker and enjoys being in nature. Brennan spent two years as a middle school history teacher in Birmingham, Alabama before joining Atchafalaya Basinkeeper in June of 2024. As Staff Attorney for Atchafalaya Basinkeeper, Brennan works with other team members, the Environmental Law Clinic at Tulane, crawfishers, regulators, and community allies to ensure the Basin receives the best legal protection available.
DEAN WILSON, ATCHAFALAYA BASINKEEPERS
Captain Dean A. Wilson is the Founder and Executive Director of Atchafalaya Basinkeeper, Inc., and he holds the official title of Atchafalaya Basinkeeper. Born on an American military base in Madrid, Dean grew up in Spain before coming to Louisiana in 1984 en route to the Amazon. After living out of a tent in the Basin for four months with only a spear, a few hooks, a bow and arrows, Dean fell in love with the swamps, lakes, bayous and rivers of the Atchafalaya Basin. Dean chose to stay, working as a commercial fisherman before forming Basinkeeper in 2004. Dean's passion for the Basin is evident to all who know him. When he is not out patrolling or educating communities about the Basin and its many threats and treasures, he works with his family-owned and operated swamp tour business, Last Wilderness Swamp Tours.