Mission

Atchafalaya Basinkeeper, a member organization of Waterkeeper Alliance, was founded by Dean Wilson in 2004 with a mission to protect and restore the swamps, lakes, rivers, streams and bayous of the Atchafalaya Basin for future generations. At the onset, ABK set out to save Louisiana's coastal cypress forests from ongoing destruction by the cypress mulch industry. After working as a commercial fisherman for 16 years, Dean witnessed first-hand the systematic destruction of the Basin at the hands of regulators and private interests. Since it's inception, Basinkeeper has worked to patrol and advocate for the Basin through education, monitoring and enforcement.

What We Do

What sets ABK apart from other organizations is our call to action. As a waterkeeper organization, we work to advocate and enforce compliance with environmental laws, for the benefit of our Basin and the communities that rely upon it. We use the law to support our in-court and out-of-court advocacy, to ensure that the interests of the Basin are considered in public forums and to stop ongoing pollution and impairment of our waterways. Our primary drive in our daily work is our Monitoring and Enforcement Program. This program underpins all of our advocacy efforts. Through this program, we monitor the Basin for destructive activities, illegal development and unpermitted actions. With help from our friends at SouthWings, we are able to identify illegal logging, development or pollution from the air. We also monitor by boat and foot to ensure that conduct occurring in the Basin is properly performed and with all necessary permits and approvals by our regulators. We use the information gathered to ensure enforcement with environmental laws, submitting comments on development projects and taking polluters to court when all else fails. Our vision is to promote environmental compliance by industry and enforcement by our regulators. In order to achieve these ends, we rely on your support. Please consider becoming a member or sponsor of Basinkeeper, volunteering, or reporting pollution or other impairments in the Basin to our staff. We can all work together to protect this ecological wonder for everyone to enjoy.