2004
NEWS ARCHIVE
Conference
Explores Social, Economic Aspects of Coastal Restoration
June 3, 2004
"On one layer
you have the biophysical sciences, and on the other layer you
have the social and economic sciences," Dr. David K. Loomis
told a national conference on the social and economic factors
affecting coastal management. He is a human dimensions researcher
from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.
"When you look
at coastal issues, you have to consider the social and economic
as well as the biological and physical aspects."
The conference, sponsored
by many including Louisiana Sea Grant and the LSU AgCenter’s
Center for Natural Resource Economics and Policy, was held on
May 27-28 at the Lod andCarole Cook Conference Center and Hotel
on the LSU campus in Baton Rouge.
Conference organizers
said the topic – Challenges of Socioeconomic Research in
Coastal Systems – is particularly important in Louisiana,
where an estimated 1,900 square miles of coastal marsh have been
lost in the past century. The meeting focused on economics and
public policy.
"Although many
people understand the science and physical losses associated with
coastal erosion, few understand how people and communities cause
and are affected by coastal erosion," said Dr. Rex Caffey,
the center director and an associate professor in the LSU AgCenter’s
Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness and a conference
organizer.
"We’re looking
at the constraints of social and economic situations, such as
lawsuits associated with the Caenarvon diversion, as well as long-term
environmental economic costs and how to calculate benefits."
The Caenarvon diversion
reintroduced fresh water into marshes and led oyster leaseholders
to bring suit, claiming that the fresh water damaged the productivity
of their leases.
Loomis said the history
of resource management dates back more than a century, but research
into the human aspects of resource management – including
public involvement, conflict resolution and litigation –
has been around only since the mid-1980s.
Most state and federal
resource management agencies are still characterized by the biophysical
approach, which focuses on natural resources as commodities to
be either exploited or conserved, Loomis said.
“When you look
at situations such as the Caernarvon-oyster industry conflict,
for example, you have to consider that when you make changes to
restore the environment, you still have to account for people,”
said Dr. Richard Kazmierczak, an LSU AgCenter economist and another
conference organizer.
The conference examined
restoration programs currently used on U.S. coasts. Speakers included
people with expertise about restoration in such areas as the Florida
Everglades and Chesapeake Bay.
"We wanted to
bring in expertise from other places and get them involved in
Louisiana issues," Kazmierczak said. "It’s not
easy to integrate physical and social concerns."
About 140 people attended,
including representatives from many Louisiana state agencies,
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, Louisiana parish governments and congressional
staff members from Washington, D.C.
Joan Lawrence, senior
Everglades policy advisor for the U.S. Department of the Interior,
spoke about the tremendous challenges of dealing with multiple
stakeholders in a dynamic physical and economic climate like the
Florida Everglades.
"Restoring the
Everglades is not rocket science or brain surgery," Lawrence
said. "It’s much more complicated than that."
Dr. Doug Lipton, a
marine resource economist at the University of Maryland, said
economic research pertaining to coastal systems still is in its
infancy.
“Most of the
economic research has been about the costs of restoration, but
comparatively little work has been done documenting the benefits
of various projects. It’s not that these values don’t
necessarily exist, but they are often much harder to quantify.”
Mark Davis, director
of the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, said the way we
manage our coastal resources is a testament to our values as a
people.
“We converted
Louisiana’s coastline during the past century because it
was perceived as the economically rational thing to do at the
time,” he said. “Successful restoration of this region
also will be predicated on doing what is economically rational,
given the most current research and values of today.
In addition to Louisiana
Sea Grant College Program and LSU AgCenter’s Center for
Natural Resource Economics and Policy and its Department of Agricultural
Economics and Agribusiness, sponsors of the conference included
the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act;
The Farm Foundation; and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s
SERA-IEG 30 committee.
###
Writer: Rick
Bogren at (225) 578-5839 or rbogren@agcenter.lsu.edu
<<
Back to 2004 News Page
