Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States
A native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Tanner A. Johnson has worked for more than a decade on coastal conservation and restoration policy at the federal, state and local levels. After earning his law degree from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at Louisiana State University, Tanner developed a focus on Louisiana’s imperiled coast in public service as Legislative Director to U.S. Senator Mary L. Landrieu and aide to Governor Kathleen Blanco. His work in these positions contributed to the development and unanimous adoption of Louisiana’s 2007 coastal master plan, entitled Integrated Ecosystem Restoration and Hurricane Protection: Louisiana’s Comprehensive Master Plan for a Sustainable Coast. In the wake of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Tanner helped author and lead the Congressional staff level negotiation of The Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act, the RESTORE Act, which dedicates 80 percent of civil and administrative Clean Water Act penalties paid by those responsible for the 2010 gulf oil disaster to Gulf Coast restoration. In 2013, Tanner was appointed by Governor Bobby Jindal to the Governor’s Advisory Commission for Coastal Protection, Restoration and Conservation. Tanner is a graduate of Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama and Catholic High School of Baton Rouge.