Bayou Grace and Other Local Non-profits Host Community Dinner/Meeting with CPRA Representatives

On Wednesday, November 2, 2011 at 5:30 pm Bayou Grace and other community based organizations and nonprofits will join together to host a community meeting at the Dulac Community Center (125 Coast Guard Road, Dulac, LA) with representatives of the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA) and State Representative Joe Harrison to discuss the 2012 Master Plan. Terrebonne Parish residents are all invited to attend, learn more and provide feedback on the planning process.  The CPRA will begin unfolding the initial draft plan in January 2012.

According to their website, the CPRA was established as the single state entity with authority to articulate a clear statement of priorities and to focus development and implementation efforts to achieve comprehensive coastal protection forLouisiana.  Because of that charge and the importance of the 2012 Master Plan document, which will lead those efforts into the future, Bayou Grace, the United Houma Nation, Dulac Community Center,  and BISCO (Bayou Interfaith Shared Community Organizing) are teaming together to ensure that the residents along the coastal communities of Terrebonne Parish are given the opportunity to learn more about the document, how it will impact them personally and their communities now and into the future.

Each of the organizations has a distinct target audience that each works with; however, on the issue of coastal protection and restoration, all of the groups share some commonalities – a love of the people impacted by the 2012 Master Plan.  The United Houma Nation represents the over 5,000 tribal citizens who reside in Terrebonne parish, many living in the most coastal areas, and has concerns that the 2012 Master Plan may leave out traditional tribal communities that are considered “too expensive” to save or considered sacrificial communities.  TheDulac Community Center has worked closely with the lower Dulac community to rebuild following each successive event disaster impacting the community there.  Bayou Grace has worked closely with the bayou communities to ensure that their voice is heard in coastal plans. BISCO works closely with communities in Lafourche, Terrebonne and Jefferson to address issues that are of concern for the citizens – coastal restoration and protection remains at the top of that list.

This event is being coordinated to ensure that more citizens impacted have an opportunity to learn more about the 2012 Master Plan and provide input back to the CPRA representatives on how that plan is or isn’t reflective of the communities impacted.

Bayou Grace, Episcopal Community Services, and the Dulac Community Center are also hosting a dinner in conjunction with the meeting, which again will begin at 5:30 pm, Wednesday, November 2 at theDulac Community Center.  For more information, please Bayou Grace at 985-594-5350.

ONE YEAR AFTER THE BP OIL SPILL

-Life in New Orleans and Coastal Louisiana

San Francisco, CA –  Bayou Grace will be among key Louisiana residents including fishermen, businesspeople and tribal leaders affected by the BP oil spill who will offer their insights on the recovery and the current conditions in the Gulf and coastal communities of Louisiana at a special cocktail presentation organized by Friends of New Orleans, on Wednesday, October 26, 2011, at the Kapor Capital offices, 543 Howard Street, 5th Floor, San Francisco, CA from 5:30 PM to 8:00 PM.  Friends of New Orleans is organizing this event to give a voice to those who have been most affected by the BP oil spill, and to raise awareness of the amount of work and resources that are still required to restore the region.  Speakers will discuss the current state of the Gulf and  Louisiana’s coastal communities 18 months after the BP Oil Spill; the impact the spill has had, and continues to have on Louisiana fishermen, and businesses that serve or are dependent on the State’s seafood industry; the effect on indigenous coastline cultures; financial reimbursements made by BP to date; the mental and physical health problems faced by those communities directly affected by the spill; and the coastal and wetlands restoration work that has been done and still lays ahead.  To rsvp or for more information on the featured speakers and the cocktail, please contact Denise M. Byrne, FONO Executive Director and Founding Board Member, by email  prdenise@aol.com or cell phone (703-371-7455).

Featured Louisiana Coastal Leaders:

Lance Nacio – Owner of Anna Marie Seafood and a principal leader in the White Boot Brigade, a Louisiana fishermen advocacy organization.

Capt. Michael Frenette - Professional Angler/ESPN contributor, Charter Boat/Tour Co. and Fishing Lodge Owner in Venice La. Marina, Director of Louisiana Charter Board Association   

Diem Nguyen – Executive Director of the Mary Queen of Vietnam CDC which is working with the Vietnamese fishing community

Brenda Dardar-Robichaux – Woman leader and former Principal Chief of the Houma Nation (17,000 strong in Louisiana)

Kirk Cheramie – Manager of the Houma Nation radio station (KUHN 89.3 FM)

Rebecca Templeton and Diane Huhn –  Representing Bayou Grace, a non-profit agency serving the 5 bayou communities of lower Terrebonne Parish

Sharon and David Gauthe - Co-Founders of Bayou Interfaith Shared Community Organizing (BISCO) which operates in Lafourche and Terrebonne Parishes

LaTosha Brown - Former Exec. Director of the Gulf Coast Fund and Director at Ibis Partners

Matt Petersen  - President and CEO of Global Green USA, a national environmental advocacy organization that has been behind the “greening” of New Orleans

Bios and photos of all of these leaders can be found on the Friends of New Orleans website at www.friendsofneworleans.org.

Click here for a link to a recent article about the event in The Daily Comet.