1998 Map of New Harbor Islands

About this map

Breton National Wildlife Refuge encompasses the fragile, shifting chain of the Chandeleur Islands in this late-twentieth-century study of the Louisiana coast. This maritime landscape is defined by its isolation from the mainland, consisting of sandy barrier features like North Islands and the New Harbor Islands that protect the inner waters of Shoalwater Bay. The map records a critical moment for the region’s geography, as the margin notes this quadrangle covers a subsidence area, where the very land is slowly sinking into the Gulf of Mexico. Despite the conservation status of the refuge, human activity is present in the form of industrial Platforms and a Platform situated within the Smack Channel, marking the intersection of natural preservation and offshore resource extraction at the end of the 1990s.