Caddo Defense Organization was established in August 2001 by four local lake entities (known at the Caddo Lake Coalition) as a community-based wetland conservation and management group. 

Caddo Lake Coalition (CLC) is a loose association of entities

  • The City of Uncertain Texas
  • Caddo Lake Area Chamber of Commerce & Tourism
  • Greater Caddo Lake Association
  • Caddo Lake Institute

Caddo Lake Institute (CLI), is a non-profit wetland scientific and technical foundation with the mission of protecting the ecological and cultural integrity of Caddo Lake's wetland ecosystem. CLI was instrumental in Caddo Lake's Ramsar designation, and a co-author of  official Ramsar Guidance to maximize participation of local and indigenous communities in management of their Ramsar wetlands. CLI provides entry-level training programs in wetland conservation and science. CLI has trained more than 1,000 teachers, as the Texas sponsor for WET (Wetland Education for Teachers), an  internationally renowned entry-level wetland science training program for teachers, students and interested citizens. CLI provides funding and technical support to the CaddoDefense program, and receives contributions for that purpose. (See our Contributions page)  CLI maintains its clidata.org  dataserver website to provide researchers with Internet links; water quality dataGIS (geographical Information System) "data layers", Map graphics (pdf and jpg) and Reports on technical and scientific research relevant to the ecology of Caddo Lake.

Local Citizens & Scientists. The idea of community-based participation in wetland management can only begin in our view by making practical Wetland Scientists of the people who live in the neighborhood. It's a very powerful inducement for getting local people, who know an area the best, to learn the skills they need to be good stewards of their own environment. 

Caddo Lake Ramsar Wetlands Clearinghouse is the present institutional framework established by the Caddo Lake Ramsar Treaty between the CLC entities in March 2002.  The Clearinghouse is modeled after the international framework established by  Ramsar Convention, a treaty signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971. This treaty provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources World-wide. There are presently 128 nations that are Contracting Parties to the Convention and that have designated more than 1150 wetland sites, totaling 82.4 million hectares, as Ramsar Wetlands of International Importance. Caddo Lake was designated as a Ramsar wetland in 1993. In May 2002, the U.S. National Ramsar Committee recognized the Caddo Lake Ramsar Clearinghouse as the official local Ramsar committee for Caddo Lake's Ramsar wetlands.