2008 Spring Mitigation Conference Highlights

The 2008 New England Mitigation Conference in Laconia, New Hampshire, took place April 30-May 2. Its theme, "Back to Basics," was brought to life by several informative presenters and many interesting discussion sessions. Now in its 18th year, the annual spring conference is an excellent forum for learning and discussing the many mitigation activities that take place throughout New England. The conference, hosted by FEMA, included participants from several state and regional partners, non-profit entities, and private sector organizations.

The conference kicked off with a regional mitigation update, presented by Kevin Merli, Director of FEMA's Region I Mitigation Division. Topics presented and discussed included basic strategic communications planning; various mitigation grants; the National Flood Insurance Program; fluvial geomorphology efforts in New Hampshire and Vermont; disasters in New England, mitigation planning; GIS; The Northeast States Emergency Consortium; RiskMap; Map Modernization and many others.

Award certificates signed by Regional Administrator Art Cleaves were presented to several participants for outstanding achievements in the field of mitigation. Awardees included:

Bob Bohman, County of York, Maine - for outstanding support for mitigation on a local and national basis
Barry Cahoon, Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation - for outstanding work in the field of fluvial geomorphology
Jennifer Gilbert, New Hampshire Office of Energy and Planning - for preparing informational newsletters on the New Hampshire OEP website
Marilyn Hilliard, FEMA - for outstanding leadership in the joint field offices of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont in 2007
Albie Lewis, FEMA - for outstanding support for mitigation in the joint field offices of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont in 2007
Karen Magnino, FEMA - for outstanding support of FEMA Region I programs
JoAnn Mooney, Maine Emergency Management Agency - for leading an outstanding disaster mitigation program following the floods of 2007
Lou Sidell - Maine State Planning Office (Retired) - For outstanding leadership in the field of floodplain management in Maine, New England and nationally over the last 20 years
Richard Verville, New Hampshire Department of Safety, Homeland Security and Emergency Management - for leading and outstanding mitigation program in the state of New Hampshire, following the floods of 2007

Keynote speaker, Professional Engineer (P.E.) and Retired General Gerald E. Galloway, Jr., Ph.D. spoke about floodplain management and shared many compelling facts and data on the topic. He stressed the need for a coordinated national water resources and floodplain management policy. In addition, he strongly advocated a comprehensive approach toward solving complex floodplain management problems - because natural systems to not recognize political boundaries.

Because of the outstanding participation, each person walked away better prepared to manage the wide range of issues facing mitigators in New England each day. For more information or copies of presentations, please contact Samantha Clay at samantha.clay@dhs.gov. We look forward to seeing you all again at next year's conference!

Last Modified: Thursday, 12-Jun-2008 16:16:51 EDT