Using Oral History in Environmental Conflict Resolution: Finding Common Ground—Lessons from the Atchafalaya
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PRESENTATION
Richard Condrey(1) and Maura Wood(2) coecnd@lsu.edu
(1)Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, School for the Coast and Environment, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge Louisiana 70808
(2)National Wildlife Federation, 14732 Sweet Wood Court, Baton Rouge Louisiana 70816
Abstract
The Atchafalaya Basin is an area of sweeping natural beauty and rich biodiversity under Army Corps of Engineers control. Despite a long history of public use, little of the Basin is publicly owned and much is used for extractible wealth. It is an American jewel subject to continuing human manipulations and conflicts.
In 1986 Congress enacted most of Governor Treenʹs 1982 plan for the Basin, ending decades of highly visible conflict and beginning federal purchase of 50,000 acres of the Basin for public use.
By 2001, the 50,000‐acre “goal” became a “cap”, preventing additional public purchases and renewing the historic conflicts.
We gathered thoughtful oral histories of key players in the 1982 compromise, hypothesizing that they would provide guidance in the resolution of the current impasse. We identified four groups - private landowners; extractors of oil, gas, and timber; public users; and regulatory agencies. We targeted one key individual per group to interview and obtained interviewee review and modification of our findings and Basin recommendations.
Concerns involving access and regulation emerged as our most important conflict‐related findings. Our study resulted in four recommendations for further non‐confrontational resolution of these Basin concerns: remove the cap and allow federal purchase from willing sellers; promote interagency cooperation and facilitate traditional activities; consider mediation and address legal issues; and become increasingly inclusive.
In this talk, we present our approach, findings, Basin‐specific recommendations, and recommendations on the use of oral history in the resolution of other environmental conflicts, with an emphasis on Louisianaʹs coastal zone.
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