LEONARD GRAY

EARL MATHERNE JR. is a man who genuinely loves his work as coastal zone management coordinator for St. Charles Parish. A Des Allemands native, he works to preserve the wetlands he grew up in. (Staff Photo by Leonard Gray) For the past nine years, as of yesterday, Earl Matherne Jr. has enjoyed his dream job. He’s the coastal zone management coordinator for St. Charles Parish. Matherne, 31, was born and raised in Des Allemands and grew up hunting and fishing in the marshes and swamps all around him. When he moved on to LSU, he earned a degree in wildlife and fisheries management. “I kind of fell into this job,” Matherne recalled, when his predecessor, Gretchen Binet, was leaving to start a family. “I didn’t know a lot about it. I saw it as an opportunity to get my feet wet.” His job includes coordinating coastal restoration projects with state and federal agencies, reviewing all wetlands permits, coordinating the annual Christmas-tree project, assisting residents in acquiring wetland permits and acting as FEMA coordinator for the parish. “At first, I planned to work here three years and then get a job with the state,” Matherne added. “But I’m home and I get to work to preserve the things I knew as a child.” He came on board and discovered all the wetlands issues facing St. Charles Parish, gaining experience and insight across the board. With projects going on from the hurricane protection levees to the Davis Pond freshwater diversion project on his plate, besides restoration of the LaBranche Wetlands and a host of other concerns, Matherne stays busy, every single day. “You really take it for granted,” Matherne said of the annual loss of Louisiana’s precious wetland resources to saltwater intrusion, pollution and other enemies, “until you have to take a look at the whole thing.” But he’s able to do something about it. “I was lucky; I came in at the beginning of major changes,” he added. Breaux Bill funding, sponsored by U.S. Sen. John Breaux, freed millions in federal funds for wetlands-related projects, and Matherne’s been on the front line of all of them. “Davis Pond is almost ready to divert water,” he noted. “It’s very exciting. It’s a career-project, one that comes along once in a lifetime.” But Matherne has worked to keep his head above water, helping to “do something drastic” to keep southern Louisiana from washing away into the Gulf. Matherne and his wife, Denise, and 16-month-old daughter, Margo, live in the Green Acres area of Bayou Gauche, in a house he and his father built. He’s not far from the marsh in any direction and he wouldn’t have it any other way. However, if there’s one thing which hits a raw nerve, it is this: the “ghost boat” which sometimes appears in the Des Allemands area. It’s a parish boat, complete with decals, which was stolen nearly 10 years ago. It is spotted from time to time, the operators water-skiing or fishing. Other people spot it and think it’s parish employees when it isn’t. “I’d love to know who has it and at least steam the decals off,” Matherne said. Matherne remains involved in wetlands beyond his job, as a co-chairman of the Pontchartrain Basin Foun-dation’s Back to the Beach committee. “Absolutely the best thing about this job is the people I meet,” he added, singling out the members of the Coastal Zone Management board and Norco resident (and LaBranche expert) Milton Cambre. “I complain a lot,” Matherne said, “but I love it here.”