Atchafalaya Basinkeeper honors special volunteers

Atchafalaya Basinkeeper Sunday acknowledged a pair of stalwart partners in the quest to save the vast river swamp from the ravages of development and exploitation.
Executive Director Dean Wilson paid a posthumous honor to pilot David Mauritson of Fairhope, Ala., one of the volunteers of the organization SouthWings, which lends a bird’s eye view to activists looking for environmental crimes in out-of-the-way places. Mauritson, 67, was killed last month in a plane crash at Mobile.
Wilson presented the “Super Swamper Award” to board member David Brown, a Baton Rouge attorney whom Wilson said has providing crucial legal support, especially in the area of revewing permits applications for dredging and other work in the Basin.
The awards were given jointly with the Louisiana Crawfish Producers Association - West. The ceremony was held at McGee’s Landing on the levee at Henderson.
Atchafalaya Basinkeeper is part of the international Waterkeeper Alliance, founded by environmental attorney Robert F. Kennedy Jr., along with several pioneer waterkeepers on the East Coast.