Conference
Explores Social, Economic Aspects of Coastal Restoration
Posted:
6/3/04
"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
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