Thirty Years of Change: How Subdivisions on Stilts have Altered A Southeast Louisiana Parish's Coast, Landscape and People

In thirty years, the number of second homes for recreation fishers in coastal Terrebonne Parish has grown from 244 in the late 1970s to an estimated 2,500 in 2005. This thesis considers the ramifications of the tourism boom along the parish's historically isolated and undeveloped coastline. Four coastal communities are examined: (1) Montegut, Pointe-aux-Chenes and Isle de Jean Charles; (2) Cocodrie and Chauvin; (3) Dulac; and (4) Dularge and Theriot. The research question is twofold: Why has coastal tourism been allowed to develop in the fragile wetlands that protect residents from dangerous storms?; and What does tourism development mean for the indigenous American Indian and Cajun people who live along the coast? The author argues the proliferation of recreation fishing camps has had a serious dislocating effect on coastal Terrebonne's population, and the ongoing development of the tourism industry will devastate culturally rich bayou regions.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

College of Urban and Public Affairs

Year

2006

Author dc:creator

• Solet, Kimberly

Contributors dc:contributor

• Gladstone, David
• Laska, Shirley
• Archambeault, William

• Houma
• Dulac
• Theriot
• Dularge
• rural gentrification
• coastal tourism
• urbanization
• coastal Louisiana
• shoreline change
• coastal development
• Terrebonne Parish
• Montegut
• Pointe-aux-Chenes
• Isle de Jean Charles
• Chauvin
• Cocodrie

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1029

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarworks.uno.edu:td-2010