Obama’s Louisiana Purchase

in People Issues by Admin — July 4, 2010 at 6:00 am | 2 comments

Editor’s Note: Once more I’m very happy to publish a guest post by Bill Nuttle, my friend, Canadian coastal engineer, and Mississippi River delta authority.

by Bill Nuttle, Ph.D., P.E.

In addition to the usual celebration, the 4^th of July marks an anniversary of particular significance to coastal Louisiana. On this date in 1803, President Thomas Jefferson announced the deal with France that brought the entire Mississippi River, including all of its watershed and its delta, under control of the U.S. government. Jefferson’s Louisiana Purchase initiated a century of opportunity and economic growth that transformed the region.

That would be the century before the last century.

For a very long time, people of coastal Louisiana have lived in anticipation of a much less promising future. The area’s unstable delta geology, unintended impacts of dredging and dike-building, accelerating sea level rise – these all point to large, negative consequences for the coast lurking just over the horizon. A thicket of conflicting claims by vested interests stands in the way of any attempt to alter the inevitable downward course.

One longs for a transforming event, such as the Louisiana Purchase at the beginning of the 19^th century. Something has to happen that will clear away the underbrush and open a path to progress.

Then, suddenly, on this 4^th of July, the coast is crawling with people with real money in their pockets, kicking the tires on Louisiana’s prized coastal assets. With $20 billion already on the table, and possibly more to come, these men and women from BP are eager to buy.

This has already transformed coastal Louisiana in the eyes of the federal government. President Obama says that there will be a long-term plan to restore the coast, and that BP will pay. Of course, BP isn’t in the market for a coast to restore. It’s here to buy indulgences – forgiveness of the sins of the Deepwater Horizon in return for cash. It’s up to Obama’s government to figure out how to transform BP’s cash into mitigation. Like it or not, Obama owns the Louisiana coast now – along with all of its problems.

Is this the transforming event people have been waiting for?

Jefferson’s Louisiana Purchase was also a bit of an impulse buy. During Jefferson’s administration the expansion of settlements west across the mountains was drawing the U.S. inevitably toward conflict, either with France, or a civil war with an independence movement based in the western territories. Geography mattered to the future of the United States in the pre-industrial era of the early 19^th century.

Rivers served as the main links for transportation and communication. West of the Appalachian Mountains, the rivers communicate with the Mississippi River basin, where France and Spain also claimed control. Whoever controlled New Orleans, recently acquired by France from Spain, also controlled trade and communication between U.S. territories and the rest of the world.

Jefferson’s offer to Napoleon Bonaparte to negotiate a deal on U.S. access to New Orleans opened the possibility of a different outcome. Bonaparte – young, ambitious, conqueror of Europe and Egypt and future Emperor of France – was not naturally inclined to give up control of nearly half the North American continent. At the same time, both men knew that France risked losing its territory to England’s stronger navy.

By upping the ante and selling the entire Louisiana Territory to the U.S., Napoleon put cash in his pocket, deprived England of a prize, and vastly strengthened an ally of France. That’s how Jefferson suddenly came to own the Louisiana coast.

Back to the present – what happens next?  There are two lessons from Jefferson’s Louisiana Purchase that Obama should take to heart. First, take stock of what you’ve just bought; and second, geography matters.

Taking Stock –  Even before the ink was dry on his deal with Napoleon, Jefferson had launched the Lewis and Clark expedition to explore the region. Its purpose was to compile a complete and accurate accounting of the extent and contents of the newly acquired territory.

Any long-term restoration plan for the Gulf coast must begin with a similar accounting of natural resources and human activities in this region. There are plenty of existing scientific accounts and technical studies that describe the trajectory of wetland loss, its causes and future prospects in view of projected sea levels and other factors. However, these accounts do not tell the whole story. A full accounting would include the same information on the region’s industries and its communities.

No credible plan can ignore any part of the complex set of interrelated activities and processes that define the Gulf coast and that residents of the region can see at work every day.

Geography Matters – As in Jefferson’s day, the unique beauty and bounty of the northern Gulf coast reflects the underlying influence of its unique geography. Essential processes operate on a regional scale, such as the delivery and deposition of river-born sediment that is needed to sustain deltaic wetlands. To be effective, a Gulf coast restoration plan must be backed up by an agency or body with overarching regional authority to resolve conflicts and broker tradeoffs with vested interests in the region. This is a key lesson learned in implementing regional restoration efforts in the Great Lakes, the Chesapeake Bay region, San Francisco Bay, and South Florida.

So, what are the odds of success? Are we likely to see a transformation in the fortunes of the Gulf coast as a result of Obama’s newfound interest in the region?

Truthfully, chances of the success for Obama’s restoration plan don’t look good. Not if success depends on establishing a regional authority to ride herd over the likes of oil and gas and navigation interests, the Corps of Engineers, oyster leaseholders, private landowners and various state and federal agencies with coastal fiefdoms and turf issues.

It’s one thing to shake down BP for $20 billion but it is quite another thing to find common cause among these fiercely independent and contentious regional interests. It can’t happen, right?

But then there is that event we celebrate on the 4^th of July. You know, the one where Thomas Jefferson writes the Declaration of Independence that unites thirteen fiercely independent and contentious colonial legislatures in common cause against the British.

William Nuttle wnuttle@eco-hydrology.com

Edited by Len Bahr leonardbahr@gmail.com