Paradox in the Bayou: Development and Displacement in America’s Wetlands

The bayou communities situated at the southern ends of Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana possess a rich and uniquely diverse cultural heritage. However, economic factors, combined with environmental issues such as land loss from oil and gas dredging, subsidence, and rising seas, have spurred significant migration “up the bayou” in recent decades, threatening the loss of these cultures and leaving behind a population that is growing increasingly more vulnerable. This study investigates the current and anticipated social, physical and fiscal impacts of persistent land loss and population decline on lower Terrebonne Parish, as well as planning strategies for maintaining existing infrastructure and services with a decreasing tax base. This research also examines the paradoxical role that high-end recreational fishing camps play in both contributing the tax revenues needed for infrastructure maintenance and service provision for residents wishing to adapt in place, while both responding and contributing to local socioeconomic shifts