Jerry Louthain, Washington
Jerry Louthain has served ASFPM in a number of ways since first becoming involved at the 1986 National Conference in Pittsburgh, where he learned that Seattle was going to host the 1987 annual conference. It was a “hit the ground running” thing for Jerry as the Floodplain Management Supervisor for the Washington State Department of Ecology, so Jerry was the obvious choice to be the local host and conference director for this very successful conference.
As Jerry continued his active involvement with ASFPM conferences, he later served in the same role for two more national conferences, Portland OR in 1999 and Seattle in 2014. Jerry also chaired the standing ASFPM Conference Committee for several years, where he helped Diane Brown with site visits, selection, and contracting for numerous future national conferences, as well as on-site assistance in various segments of conference activities.
One of Jerry’s interests and strengths was working with local and regional floodplain managers, serving as the Washington State NFIP Coordinator and ASFPM’s Regional Director for Region 10. Jerry played a key role in the formation of the Northwest Regional Floodplain Management Association (NORFMA), an ASFPM chapter which consists of the states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Alaska, and the province of British Columbia.
On the national level, Jerry has served ASFPM in a variety of roles, including ASFPM board chair 1991-1993. Another major role was being appointed in the early 1990s as the first president of the Certification Board of Regents (CBOR), which developed the Certified Floodplain Manager program. ASFPM standing committees involvement included chair of the Multi-Objective Management Committee, which has morphed into today’s No Adverse Impact Committee, and co-chair of the Stormwater Management Committee. Jerry also served on the ASFPM Foundation Board of Trustees in the role of ASFPM past chair.
In 1992, Jerry agreed to take the role of acting ASFPM Executive Director for three months while Larry Larson was on sabbatical in Australia. Jerry worked with Diane Brown to coordinate association activities such as board calls, committees and policy coordination issues and to be signatory on payments, agreements, and contracts. This was all conducted by US mail and fax in those days, and Jerry’s efforts were instrumental in keeping ASFPM moving forward and operationally sound.
Of the many activities that Jerry has been involved in with ASFPM, the highlight was being awarded the inaugural Louthain Award for Distinguished Service to ASFPM in 1995. The award recognizes those who do lots of volunteer work — often behind the scenes — to support growth, credibility, and expansion of the association. This award has now been presented at the Annual Conference each year to individuals who, through their long-term efforts, have clearly supported and advanced the work of the Association of State Floodplain Managers. Jerry has been honored to personally present this award to recipients since 1995.