French Wetmore, CFM
French & Associates, Ltd.
Steilacoom, Washington
French Wetmore is President of French & Associates, a floodplain management consulting firm. Prior to consulting, French was Chief of Local Floodplain Programs for the Illinois Division of Water Resources and State Flood Insurance Coordinator, 1976 – 1988. Before his state work, he was a city administrator. French’s consulting projects have including assisting communities with their floodplain management ordinances and administration, preparing mitigation plans and programs, and helping design and administer the Community Rating System.
He is the author of many guides for local officials on mitigation planning, floodproofing, floodplain management, and related topics. He has prepared a dozen local or multijurisdictional hazard mitigation plans, including the plan for Kane County, Illinois, the first hazard mitigation plan in the country to be approved under all three FEMA mitigation planning programs (DMA, FMA, and CRS [see FEMA 498]).
French has been a local planning commissioner and Chair of the Park Forest, Illinois, Plan Commission. He has served as Chair of the Association of State Floodplain Managers (1985 – 1987), President of the Certification Board of Regents (2001 – 2004), and on the Board of Directors for the Illinois Association for Floodplain and Stormwater Management (1989 ? 2007). French has a B.A. in Government from Indiana University (1968) and an MPA from Syracuse University (1972).