Date of Award
5-2006
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.S.
Degree Program
Urban Studies
Department
College of Urban and Public Affairs
Major Professor
Gladstone, David
Second Advisor
Laska, Shirley
Third Advisor
Archambeault, William
Abstract
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.
Recommended Citation
Solet, Kimberly, "Thirty Years of Change: How Subdivisions on Stilts have Altered A Southeast Louisiana Parish's Coast, Landscape and People" (2006). University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. 1029.
https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1029
Rights
The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.