Resettlement Site of Isle de Jean Charles, Louisiana

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A sugar farm outside Houma has been selected as the new home for the dozens of people remaining on Isle de Jean Charles, an island rapidly sinking into the Gulf of Mexico.
An experimental program aimed at transplanting the small, mostly Native American community to safer ground has zeroed in on a 515-acre farm about 40 miles north of the island in rural Terrebonne Parish.
Last year, Isle de Jean Charles became the first community in the U.S. to receive federal assistance for a large-scale retreat from the effects of climate change. About $48 million was allotted to purchase land, build homes and move the island's approximately 80 full-time residents.
Louisiana's Office of Community Development expects to finalize the purchase in the coming weeks.
The relocation site is dominated by sugar fields, with a large wetland and a stretch of the Saint Louis Bayou in its center. About 56 acres are ideal for development and 284 could be retained for agricultural use.
Owned by Acadia Agricultural Holdings, the land - known as the Evergreen property - is valued at $19.1 million, but the actual purchase price may be about half that, Sanders said. The property is on relatively high ground - about nine feet above sea level. It borders Highway 24 and is a 20 minute drive to Houma, the largest city in Terrebonne, with 34,000 people.
Schools, stores and jobs will be in easier reach. The island has no services, and its one road and bridge are frequently impassible due to flooding. The island once hosted a thriving fishing community, but now many residents commute off-island for work.