Conversations in Conflict Studies: Voluntary Flood Buyouts in Central Appalachia

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Andrea Cass, Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Environmental Studies at SUNY ESF, will give a presentation titled: “Voluntary Flood Buyouts in Central Appalachia: Creek Bottoms, Jubilee, and Transformative Adaptation.”

As climate change increases extreme weather events, displacement will become ever more pressing without managed retreat, especially along creek bottoms in West Virginia. Voluntary floodplain buyout programs are heralded as one of the best options to facilitate managed retreat, reduce vulnerability and increase resilience to climate change.

However, this talk illustrates how historical injustices in infrastructure, land ownership and housing in Central Appalachia reveal a classed and gendered spatialization of housing across the riverine landscape today, complicating what it means to be “bought out.” In a region where extractive industries control and own most of the land, residents struggle for the right to remain. Still, many grassroots organizations and individuals continue to inspire hope and Jubilee for a bright future, affirming life for those who remain.

Andrea Cass is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Environmental Studies at SUNY ESF. She is a broadly trained political ecologist and critical environmental studies scholar whose award-winning dissertation research investigates power dynamics within voluntary flood buyouts, managed retreat and post-disaster flood relocation in Central Appalachia. Her work supports the development of more equitable buyout programs in riverine communities across the United States.