Jon Kusler

Jon Kusler is a lawyer, writer, educator, and administrator with over 40 years of experience working with legal, science, and policy issues in natural hazards and water resources management. Kusler has published many articles, books, and reports specializing in floodplain management, mitigation of natural hazards, wetland management, and water resources planning. He has consulted extensively for nonprofit organizations and government agencies. Some of his seminal works include: Regulation of Flood Hazard Areas to Reduce Flood Losses, U.S. Water Resources Council, which laid the foundation nationwide for the management of flood plains, and was the basis for laws later adopted by many states and local communities, as well as, Our National Wetland Heritage: A Protection Guide, Regulating Sensitive Lands, and Wetland Creation and Restoration: The Status of the Science, Volumes I & II.
 
In 1983, Jon helped found the Association of State Wetland Managers and served as its executive director from 1983 to 2001. For many decades, Jon also worked very closely with the Association of State Floodplain Managers and helped shape the concepts of No Adverse Impact Floodplain Management, ASFPM’s national initiative to help communities understand the legal implications of allowing development that adversely impacts other properties and communities. This initiative has been used by numerous communities and states to reduce flood losses. Kusler was recipient of the Gilbert White award in floodplain management in 1979, the Environmental Law Institute’s National Wetland Lifetime Achievement Award in 1990, and the Society of Wetland Scientist’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009.