In the News
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The news outlet links below represent many viewpoints, aggregated here for reference purposes only. The Louisiana Office of Community Development makes no claim as to the veracity or accuracy of any views contained herein.
If you are a member of the media, please contact Marvin McGraw and indicate your name, news outlet, contact information and deadline.
CONTACT
Marvin McGraw
marvin.mcgraw@la.gov
Fading Away: Louisiana's Battle Against Coastal ErosionSource: KATC3 Date: 11/23/2020 A lattice work of marsh and canals, the Louisiana coastline, is vanishing. A mixture of saltwater intrusion and sinking land has contributed to one of the fastest disappearing places on the planet, and an existential threat to the state itself. |
Isle de Jean Charles residents view future homes for the first timeSource: Houma Today Date: 04/07/2021 Isle de Jean Charles residents got to see their future homes for the first time Wednesday. |
Welcome To 'The New Isle': Isle De Jean Charles Residents Get A First Look At Their New HomeSource: WWNO - New Orleans Public Radio Date: 04/26/2021 On a recent Wednesday, state employees with the Office of Community Development welcomed Louisianans as they pulled into what will soon be their new driveway. They handed out information folders and showed residents to the empty plots of land where their new homes will one day stand. |
Indigenous tribe in Louisiana relocates as rising seas engulf their homesSource: Reuters Date: 04/28/2021 Rocks are pictured that have been added recently to the eroding Island Road, which is the only way onto Isle de Jean Charles. |
This Louisiana neighborhood is retreating in the face of climate changeSource: Grist Date: 06/03/2021 In early May, President Joe Biden stood in front of the 70-year old Calcasieu River Bridge in Lake Charles, Louisiana. With the aging bridge in the background, he spoke about the hurricanes that have battered the town over the last year, emphasizing the need for infrastructure to adapt to the increasing severity of storms influenced by climate... |
New efforts to fight sea level rise as vanishing island serves as a cautionary taleSource: Fox11 News Date: 06/24/2021 All across the US, land is slowly disappearing due to rising sea levels caused by climate change. It’s an issue the Biden Administration is prioritizing, recently investing $1 billion to enhance efforts to protect vulnerable areas at risk of increased flooding. |
As seas rise, coastal communities face hard choices over 'managed retreat'Source: The Business Times Date: 06/25/2021 Key decisions on whether to go, what to protect, access to affordable housing and community culture need to be decided, but few are ready to talk seriously about the threats |
What is Needed for Fair and Equitable Managed Retreat?Source: State of the Planet Date: 07/01/2021 The Inupiat of Alaska recently created an entirely new word, usteq, to describe a catastrophic combination of permafrost thaw, flooding, and erosion that can lead to total land collapse. |
Louisiana ‘climate refugees’ lose faith in relocation projectSource: The Washington Times Date: 07/08/2021 State's nearly $50 million plan has yet to relocate any Isle de Jean Charles residents |
How ‘managed retreat’ can help communities facing sea-level riseSource: Cyprus Mail Date: 07/10/2021 In 2016, the residents of Isle de Jean Charles, a small strip of land off the coast of Louisiana, received a $48-million grant to relocate their entire community. Faced with sea-level rise and rapid erosion, many made the decision to seek higher ground, even though the process was a heart-wrenching one. |
The Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw tribe is losing homes to erosion on the Gulf CoastSource: Sun Herald Date: 07/12/2021 Chris Brunet points to the stumps of dead trees throughout his yard. “This whole place looked completely different when I was growing up,” he says. “There’s not much left now.” |
Native American tribes express concern about development on Isle de Jean CharlesSource: Houma Today Date: 07/16/2021 Native American leaders are questioning why Terrebonne Parish officials are considering new sites for fishing camps on Isle de Jean Charles when residents are being encouraged to leave the island as it erodes into the Gulf of Mexico. |
Our debt to places that are sinkingSource: The Boston Globe Date: 07/18/2021 US policy doesn’t properly recognize slow-moving disasters like climate change — while marginalized communities face the rising waters. |
To Flee, or to Stay Until the End and Be Swallowed by the SeaSource: Inside Climate News Date: 07/18/2021 On the Isle de Jean Charles in the bayous of Louisiana, the nation’s first federally funded climate migrants have a decision to make as their ancestral island disappears. |
Tribal leaders raise ‘serious concerns’ about plans to turn their shrinking Louisiana island home into a ‘sportsman’s paradise’Source: Nation of Change Date: 07/26/2021 After a long state and federal push to relocate the Indigenous people of Isle de Jean Charles from their threatened homeland, new recreational development around the island risks further colonial displacement. |
Building stronger: Island resettlement's homes designed to help weather stormsSource: Houma Today Date: 07/30/2021 Residents relocating from an eroding island off Terrebonne Parish will move into homes built and designed to help weather hurricanes. |
After 10 years, Isle de Jean Charles residents will soon have a new place to call homeSource: WWNO Date: 02/17/2022 The Isle de Jean resettlement program, a construction project spurred by extreme land loss that has been in the works for six years, is expected to finally wrap up this spring and move in its residents. |