Bayou Farewell (Tidwell)

I admit to some bias; having grown up in south Louisiana, and with a name like Robichaux, I expected this book (subtitled “Rich Life and Tragic Death of Louisiana’s Cajun Coast”) to be patronizing and smug. It was neither. Instead, Tidwell has written a powerful narrative that clearly explains the beauty and wonder of the Louisiana coastal ecosystem, the rich life of the Cajuns who live there, and the impending threat to both caused by the artificial levees built to provide flood control along the lower Mississippi. Along the way, I learned about the BTNEP project to document land loss and the <a href="http://www.restoreorretreat.org/solution.htmlThird Delta Conveyance Channel (TDCC), an ambitious project to divert a portion of the Mississippi’s flow to restore silt deposition– and thus wetlands– in the Barataria-Terrebone Bay areas. One of Tidwell’s major points is the seeming complacency of Louisiana residents toward this problem; I’m happy to say that in the recent election, a majority of voters chose to support three amendments that will help clear the path for obtaining funding for the TDCC.
Tidwell makes another, really telling, point: the fact that Louisiana is losing thousands of acres of wetlands each year is largely unknown in most of the environmental community. He’s too polite to say so, but it helps reinforce my suspicion that many “environmentalists” are really just “NIMBY-ists” trying to dress themselves up in more appropriate clothing. His book has done a great deal to get the word out, though, and it’s a fine read besides. Highly recommended.