Corps Reform Network 2007 Annual Meeting

Proceedings

Table of Contents

Introduction and Media
PowerPoint Presentations and Session Summaries
Speaker Biographies
Participants List
Agenda

Introduction and Media

From Dec. 2 - 4, 50 CRN members and local activists joined with community leaders, engineers, and corps staff to move the corps reform agenda forward at the CRN's 2007 Annual Meeting. The 3-day event in New Orleans featured clean water skills trainings, tours of both pristine bottomland habitat and Katrina-impacted neighborhoods, and presentations on water resources and global warming, protecting New Orleans and prioritizing the best projects for the Gulf Coast.

The meeting made headlines:

• WWLTV Channel 4 interviewed CRN Steering Committee Members, who explained why reforming the corps is necessary and what the recently won reforms mean for New Orleans and other communities.
  Click here to watch on YouTube
  
  
• WWLTV Channel 4 interviewed Dr. Hassan Mashriqui (LSU Professor and Engineer) following his presentation that illustrated the safest and most effective way for the corps to close the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet.
  Click here to watch on YouTube
  
  
• WWLTV Channel 4 covered a new report released by local CRN Members called: "Failure to Hold Water," which calls into question the corps economic justification for expanding the Industrial Lock and Canal.
  Click here to watch on YouTube
  
  
• The Times-Picayune ran a story about Corps Director of Civil Works, Major General Don Riley's keynote presentation to the group [click here to read], and also wrote about the new report “Failure to Hold Water," highlighting community concerns [click here to read].
  
  
• ABC News Channel 26 also aired an evening news segment on "Failure to Hold Water." This segment featured Pam Dashiell with the Holy Cross Neighborhood Association and ecomomist Dr. Robert Stearns.
  Click here to watch on RealPlayer (save first, then open)

According to CRN Coordinator George Sorvalis, "Many of our members near New Orleans, like the Holy Cross Neighborhood Association, invited us to hold our Annual Meeting in their city. If we helped in their fight to steer the corps away from special-interest projects, like widening the Industrial Canal, towards projects that address the needs of community members, then the meeting was a success."

For more information on the 2007 CRN Annual Meeting:

• PowerPoint Presentations and Session Summaries
• Speaker Biographies
• Participants List
• Agenda