Dwight Shellman

Uncertain | Attorney, Civil Servant, Community Organizer

From 1993 through 2006, Dwight Shellman served as the president of the Caddo Lake Institute, which encourages interdisciplinary work towards preservation of the ecological and cultural integrity of Caddo Lake, reputed to be the only natural lake in Texas, noted for its cypress-dominated wetlands. Mr. Shellman and the Institute were successful in getting designation of the Lake as a wetland of international signification under the RAMSAR Treaty, in setting up cooperative lake research and monitoring programs at local colleges and high schools, in creating a new National Wildlife Refuge adjoining the Lake, and in finding sustainable uses for the nearby Longhorn Ammunition Plant. Mr. Shellman was also active with the East Texas Communities Network which sought to locate and interconnect conservationists in small northeast Texas towns, and organize them around local environmental problems, ranging from chicken processing wastewater to dam construction to water quality downgrades to air quality issues.