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On Sunday May 6, Levees.org will launch its first Levee Disaster Bike Tour.  The 90-minute tour starts at the City Park Boat and Bike Rentals at Big Lake Trail.

We leave at 9 a.m. and taking safe, marked biking routes, we will bike to the 17th Street Canal breach (6932 Bellaire Drive) and hear a short history of the levee breach disaster. Then we will bike through the Lakeview neighborhood, through beautiful City Park to the London Avenue Canal breach (5300 Warrington Drive) in the Filmore Gardens neighborhood of Gentilly. Again, we will hear a short history of the breach disaster.

We will then return to City Park. The bike tour is 12 miles and takes not more than 90 minutes with the levee breach talks. There is no charge to join the bike tour.

For more about the Bike Tour, click here.

You can rent a bike from JoyRide bike rentals, but must be reserved 24 hours in advance.  Email Alberto at info@joyridebikerentals.com

This tour is organized under the auspices of Jane Jacobs Walk, an organization committed to helping city neighborhoods thrive by making them walkable and bike-friendly.

For more about Jane Jacobs Walk, click here.

Homes on Bellaire Drive directly across from levee breach site of 17th Street Canal. Photo/Francis James

The Army Corps of Engineers has failed to respond to a request for comments on Levees.org’s nomination of two major levee breach sites to the National Register of Historic Places.

That failure to provide technical comments within the required time frame has created an impasse in the nomination process.  For this reason, Levees.org will exercise its right to appeal, meaning it will advance its nomination to the official arbiter for such procedural breakdowns, the Keeper of the National Park Service.

The Keeper has 45 days to either sustain or deny the appeal.  If the Keeper sustains, she will direct the Louisiana State Historic Preservation Officer to send Levees.org’s nomination to the National Historian for final review and formal listing.

Click here for more on the story by award winning journalist Mark Schleifstein with the New Orleans Times Picayune.

Jo-Ellen Darcy, Asst Secretary of the Army Civil Works

UPDATE:  Ms. Pam Breaux, the Louisiana Historic Preservation Officer  has conferred with Levees.org on the next steps for our nomination.  Ms. Breaux will release a statement later today. Levees.org will speak to the press after Ms. Breaux’s statement is made public.  Update – April 10, 2012 14:51 CST

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In February 2012, the Corps of Engineers convened a team of historic preservation officers to review Levees.org’s nomination of two major levee breach sites in New Orleans to the prestigious National Register of Historic Places.

We have just received word that the Corps has completed its review.

Ms. Jo-Ellen Darcy, Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) has sent a letter to the Louisiana State Historic Preservation Officer, Ms. Pam Breaux containing the Corps of Engineers’ current position regarding the nomination.

A spokesperson for the Corps’ Federal Preservation Officer informed us this morning that the contents of the correspondance should be the subject of discussion between Levees.org and the SHPO, Ms. Breaux.

As of the time of this posting, Levees.org has not heard from Ms. Breaux.

Leslie March, Oregon Chapter Director for Levees.org

We are pleased to share that Levees.org’s Oregon Chapter Director Leslie March has recently earned her MBA in Sustainable Business from Marylhurst University.  Her dissertation focused on the Holy Cross and Lower Ninth Ward Sustainable Restoration Plan after five years.

The interesting report details how after the hurricane protection levees in New Orleans failed destroying two historic neighborhoods, the community was faced with the daunting task of rebuilding, The two neighborhoods, the Lower Ninth Ward and the Holy Cross chose to improve their quality of life by joining together in 2006 to create a sustainable restoration Plan to guide the rebuilding of their community.

In five years, the Plan and its implementation arm, the Sustainable Engagement Development have many achievements to tout including engaging members to represent neighborhoods at government meetings, successful suit against the Army Corps of Engineers for widening the nearby Industrial Canal, establishment of two community gardens and weekly farmers market and many more. The historical character of Holy Cross is living side by side with modern solar panels. The Bayou Bienvenue platform creates a vision of what quality of life can be with sustainability. While population recovery has been slow, even with outside help continuing to arrive, the community is poised to work with the original plan to carry on the work past recovery.

For full report, click here.

Dubos issued this style alert because he agreed with Levees.org’s assertion that saying the flooding was caused by Katrina was misleading, harmful and wrong.   He agreed that reliance on Katrina Shorthand was lazy journalism.

So we note with appreciation that style alerts at Gambit are treated seriously as demonstrated by a passage in this week’s Gambit Weekly.  A short article by Editor Kevin Allman about a new grocery store’s groundbreaking contained the proper characterization of the flooding.  See second sentence.

Soon they all be like Gambit.

Aerial view of London Avenue levee breach site. Note home in middle of Warrington Drive at upper left hand corner.

A new essay by Chris Edwards just released by the Cato Institute examines the Army Corps of Engineers’ competence in building infrastructure for civilian purposes noting that the agency which employs about 23,000 people will spend about $9.2 billion in fiscal 2012.

The essay concludes most of the Army Corps’ activities do not need to be carried out by the federal government. Some of its activities—such as flood control and the management of recreational areas—should be turned over to state and local governments. Other activities—such as seaport dredging and hydropower generation—should be turned over to the private sector.

We note with appreciation that the essay contains a well written analysis of the Army Corps of Engineers’ role in the flooding of regional New Orleans during Katrina.

Having studied the facts relating to the 2005 flooding for six years, Levees.org is qualified to comment on the quality of the passage.  We say it passes with flying colors. 

We note that Edwards borrowed heavily from the scientific studies, and that he also quoted reporter Michael Grunwald who Levees.org has worked with closely since 2005.  Edwards also relied upon Environmental Defense for much of the material, another organization that Levees.org is closely aligned with.

Factually correct descriptions of the horrific flooding on August 29, 2005 is evidence that Levees.org is fulfilling its mission of education.

Click here for the essay.
http://www.downsizinggovernment.org/usace

Jo-Ellen Darcy, Asst Secretary of the Army Civil Works

Ms. Jo-Ellen Darcy, Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) has responded in partial fulfillment of a federal requirement to Levees.org’s nomination of two levee breach sites to the National Register of Historic Places.

In August 2010, Levees.org first nominated the sites of two major levee breaches during the 2005 storm to the prestigious register including the breach of 17th Street Canal and the east side north breach of the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal, both in New Orleans. The latter breach site is owned and administered by the Corps of Engineers, which requires the state office seek the comments of this federal agency prior to submission.

Normally, the Corps’ Federal Preservation Officer responds to requests for comments on National Register nominations. But there appears to be intense interest shown by the Corps as demonstrated by an Assistant Secretary of the Army being the signatory of this letter.

The letter states that due to the length and complexity of the NRHP nomination, the Army Corps of Engineers will assemble a team of “historic preservation specialists” to fully evaluate this nomination. The team will be headed by Dr. Paul D. Rubenstein, the Corps Deputy FPO.

By federal regulation, the Corps’ FPO has sixty days to respond to Levees.org’s submission. While that deadline expired on March 13th, Ms. Darcy has pledged to consider the Corps team’s recommendations and reply by March 30.

Staffers with the Louisiana State Office of Historic Preservation have indicated they are “comfortable” with the Corps of Engineers taking an extra two weeks to respond. Furthermore, though Ms. Darcy’s letter is dated February 2, 2012, the same staffers say they did not receive it until March 15th.

For Associated Press story, click here.

Link to letter:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/85597098/Letter-from-Jo-Ellen-Darcy-to-Pam-Breaux

Sandy Rosenthal, founder of Levees.org. Photo/Stanford Rosenthal

The delegates are in the United States under the auspices of the Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program.

Ms. Rosenthal will speak on how she and her son age 15 at the time founded Levees.org and the work the group has been doing since the flood.

The New Orleans Citizen Diplomacy Council is a non-profit organization that arranges professional appointments and cultural activities for over 400 international leaders sent to New Orleans each year from the U.S. State Department International Visitor Leadership Program.

Among the thousands who have participated in the IVL program since its inception are many distinguished leaders from the public and private sectors. Hundreds of these visitors have risen to important positions in their countries including: Margaret Thatcher; Frederik W. de Klerk; Oscar Arias Sanchez; Tony Blair; Anwar Sadat; and Boutros-Boutros Ghali.

Click here for more about the program.
www.nocdc.com

The appeals court ruling was written by Judge Jerry Smith of Houston, appointed by Ronald Reagan, and agreed to by Judge Edward Prado of San Antonio and Jennifer Elrod of Houston, both appointed by George W. Bush.

http://www.nola.com/katrina/index.ssf/2012/03/hurricane_katrina_flood_ruling.html

Attendance is FREE and open to the public.

When: Tuesday, February 28th, 4:00-5:30 p.m.
Where: Lavin-Bernick Center, Kendall Cram Room, Tulane University

Parking on street is free on downtown side of campus for 2 hours.  On downtown side of State Street, street parking is free and unlimited.

Panelists will discuss how whistleblowers promote transparency and accountability in key issues facing local New Orleans area residents.

This event is sponsored by the Government Accountability Project (GAP), Tulane University, and the New Orleans Coalition on Open Governance (NOCOG).

A wine and cheese reception will follow the event.

For more event info, please visit here: http://bit.ly/z4uuXN