NOAA Coastal Services Center Community Assessment and Resilience Planning
Cooperative Agreements Year One Project
ENHANCING GOM COASTAL COMMUNITIES’ RESILIENCY:
THROUGH THEIR PARTICIPATION IN NOAA RESILIENCE INDEX
DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION
Brief Project Description (overview of project, goals, etc.)
Gulf of Mexico coastal communities are threatened by one of the highest and fastest
growing rates of sea level rise,i (see Appendix A for citations) one of the highest rates of
tropical cyclones – anticipated to be higher for a multi-decadal periodii – and recently
some of the most powerful hurricanes ever recorded likely enhanced by ocean heating. iii
The area also is challenged by high rates of coastal economic vulnerability due to
persistent poverty exacerbated by the lack of utility of rural areas within modern
societiesiv and the dramatic reductions in seafood prices, especially shrimp, affected by
international imports,v and in 2005 the most costly hurricanes ever to strike the U.S.vi
Within this increasing context of risk, GOM coastal communities struggle to survive
physically, culturally, socially and economically as their ecosystems are dramatically
challenged.vii While all GOM coastal communities face risk, frequently the smaller ones
are the least recognized and supported in their goals to improve their future, a frequently
expressed concern since hurricanes Katrina and Rita.viiiIt is the intent of this project to
develop, using a select sample of these communities, a Community Resiliency Index and
process of implementation that can be used specifically by these small communities to
improve their fate and that can become part of CSC tools.
Project Location (provide geography and community information, if applicable)
Communities of Jean Lafitte and Barataria region
One community, Jean Lafitte, will be the prime focus of the research. It is ethnically
more mixed and represents both resource extraction occupations (shrimping, fishing,
oyster and crab harvesting and oil/gas employment) as well as recreational fishing
gentrificationix and suburban sprawl development.
Affiliation (Your affiliation and your project team)
University of New Orleans - CHART
Dr. Shirley Laska
Kristina Peterson, Project Manager
Michelle Alcina
Jonathan West
Partners (Who are you working with)
 Texas A&M University (College Station and Galveston)
 BTNEP- Barataria Terrebonne National Estuary Program
 Extension- Sea Grant
Project Timeline (general timeline, starting from October 1, 2007)
October 2007 to October 2008
Deliverables (list potential deliverables)
 To develop a coastal community resiliency index in conjunction with local
stakeholders from smaller coastal communities and a specific urban neighborhood
that can be applied broadly across a range of types and sizes of coastal jurisdictional
units as a useful tool for the Coastal Services Center as well as other government and
non-government agencies.
 To develop such an index in partnership with these communities using strategies that
will document and analyze their knowledge of the resilient indicators in their
community.
 To use information and knowledge from the communities in conjunction with best
practices and information, and determine which series of indicators that emerge from
this process are most suitable for broad application
 To compare the indicators in the index to those contained in the Texas A&M project
designed for use by larger government units.
Contact Information (PI’s, project team)
Kristina Peterson
Krajeskipeterson@msn.com
304-266-2517- cell
Project Status – January/February
(Provide a few bullets or sentences on project status, major issues, exciting
breakthroughs, etc.)










Fall focused on entrée into the community
Project team met with the mayor of Jean Lafitte
Mayor shared with team that they have done activities in Jean Lafitte since
Katrina and Rita that have made them resilient
Project team is going to visit the community again to see what projects the Mayor
has done to make his community resilient. Looking at what are these qualities,
that the mayor perceives as resilient
Project team will tour the community
Mayor is somewhat autocratic, did he “single –handedly” do all these activities.
Were others involved?
One step at a time into the community
Model – what is the way in which PAR can contribute to resilience in a
community that has strong leadership
Fun meeting-how creative a small community can be
Level of gov’t, how much knowledge – How much back-n-forth with parish
gov’t has Jean Lafitte had, interested in knowing more about this relationship
Questions UNO are interested in answering




How he is doing it (resiliency)?
Mayor is somewhat autocratic, did he “single –handedly” do all these activities.
Were others involved?
How do you work within that context to make the most use of what they can do
and not break down the resilience?
Find out if there are other leaders in the community and who they are.
Project Status – March
(fill in project update)
Update March 17, 2008
Coastal Community Team Report University of New Orleans CHART
The following are some of the activities that have been part of our March work with
Jean Lafitte:











Attend BTNEP- Barataria Terrebonne National Estuary Program semi-annual
meeting
Review further literature on resiliency and small communities, especially
leadership style for small-town mayors.
Meeting with Extension/Sea Grant representative for Jefferson Parish – Mark
Schecknayder
Review of Risk Wise materials from meeting
Materials presented by NOAA from Florida
Exploration of youth leadership that was developed by National Park system
(Pirate Crew) as component of community resident resiliency
Third visit with Mayor for contacts and conversations on resilience and for
drive around the community with him.
Request (to NOAA) to provide maps for Mayor of Jean Lafitte
Attendance at the local levee board meeting
Visited and talked with first contacts from Mayor
Proposed a “snapshot” page on RiskWise that will highlight the stories from
the field – resiliency of community members.

Tools that can be helpful from other teams:

Work of Walt’s team with coastal statistics/ information on Jean Lafitte
National Park.
Upcoming activities:


Now that mayor has endorsed researchers’ contacting various members in the
community additional field conversations with community.
City Council meetings

Christmas Tree Project – Jason Smith – [There is a positive affect on the
establishment of shoreline in the wetlands to the east of Jean Lafitte. In
addition the effort serves as a visual, hands on experience for the community
in The project is coordinated year-round and is ‘worked’ out of Lafitte. The
cooperation of several dozen groups and agencies is utilized to complete this
task]
April (fill in project update)
May (fill in project update)
June (fill in project update)
July (fill in project update)
August (fill in project update)