Dean Wilson

In 1984, Dean Wilson was planning to move to the Amazon Rainforest.

But first, he wanted to get used to a hot, humid, mosquito-rich environment.

So he looked at a map of the United States and discovered a large area devoid of roads. An apparent patch of wilderness, stretched between Louisiana and Mississippi.

This place was the Atchafalaya Basin. It was a pristine piece of nature with more than a million acres of America’s most significant bayous, swamps, and backwater lakes… a refuge for wildlife, including the endangered Florida Panther and Peregrine Falcon.

While Dean didn’t intend to stay, this magical place drew him in, and he started his life here as a commercial fisherman.

He never could have known that one day, the Atchafalaya Basin would be in danger of disappearing… vulnerable to gas and oil pipeline construction, and torn apart by timber companies.

As he witnessed this destruction, Dean knew he had to do something, so he founded the Atchafalaya Basinkeeper.

Dean is determined to save this natural paradise.

So he is fighting on the front lines… Stopping new oil access canals, pipelines and illegal development of wetlands. To enforce our environmental laws. To protect cypress swamps from logging.

Dean files lawsuit after lawsuit to protect the Atchafalaya… and even though the fight continues, he is winning for his waterway every day.

Listen to Dean’s story: