Third in Line

Penny Chatham, a member of the House of Representatives, takes her husband and their three children to south Louisiana and Mississippi swamps, marshes, and nearshore waters on an inspection trip. Three years ago she was involved in water wars between Louisiana and Mississippi. Her work with the Pearl River and flood water in the Mississippi River brought back wild oysters and other marine life in Louisiana and Mississippi estuaries. Due to the success of restoring estuary water, She and Louisiana's Senator Long sponsor a bill to restore coastal waters along the nation's coastlines. Their Sustainability Bill would also reduce the country's reliance on fossil fuels and work toward conversion of homes to become energy efficient through using regenerative technologies. While on the inspection tour, Representative Chatham's stand on reducing carbon emissions is gravely challenged by a group of influential business leaders.

Representative Penny Chatham, travels with her family to the Gulf Coast to inspect restored coastal habitats that have significantly increased wild oysters, shrimp, and blue crabs. It took water wars along the Louisiana and Mississippi Coasts in order for that to evolve. Along with concern for the nation's degraded coastal edges, Representative Chatham supports reducing carbon emissions that cause climate change. A powerful group of business leaders fear her shift away from dependence on fossil fuels is a threat to the nation's economy. On the journey from New Orleans, Louisiana through Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, and beyond the Gulf Coast to a remote barrier island, the Chatham family experiences more than kayaking through illustrious salt marshes, fishing offshore grass beds, and searching for remote island wildlife!

Pete Melby, a Professor of Landscape Architecture, is married and has two children. He taught landscape architecture courses at Mississippi State University for 32 years, focusing on Construction Materials, and Design of Sustainable Communities. His research included authoring a text for design of irrigation systems at the request of the landscape contracting industry. Simplified Irrigation Design was first published by John Wiley and Sons in 1998. A second edition is now available which also focuses on water conservation through the application of drip irrigation technology. Along with Edward C. Martin, Jr. Melby wrote Home Landscapes, Planting Design and Management. Editors at John Wiley and Sons in New York requested in the year 2000 that a book on Sustainability be developed. The pioneering text, Regenerative Design Techniques, by Pete Melby and Tom Cathcart explained how to design energy conserving buildings and landscapes. That collaboration stimulated the team to work together evaluating eroding beaches along the Gulf Coast and demonstrating how management of a sand beach could be carried out through relying on natural wind and weather cycles. A model beach evolved that proved how sbeaches could rely on the daily provision of sand from tides and wind. Deposition of large amounts of sand and native beach plants occurred during storms. Through the establishment of a salt marsh and native plants to create sand dunes, the beach became stabilized and grew in sand volume and width. Melby and Cathcart were honored as Gulf Guardians by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2002. In 2018, Professor Melby was awarded the State Conservation Award and Medal by the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution.