To outsiders, Louisiana conjures up a myriad of images: lazy bayous and political cockfights; alligator-laden swamps and streets choked with Mardi Gras revelers; Cajun waltzes and voodoo dolls; decaying log "dogtrot" houses and flood-rusted mobile homes. Beneath the stereotypes is a state steeped in a variety of traditions grappling with the attractions of the cultural and economic mainstream. Louisiana's citizens are aware of the complex mixture of tradition and change in a state that is as much Sunbelt-suburban as it is pioneer, frontier, plantation, farmstead, fisherman's camp or New Orleans neighborhood.

The richness of Louisiana folk traditions, from old-time jazz and Cajun music to Creole food and north Louisiana craftsmen, is increasingly recognized as valuable to the economic and cultural future of the state. Development that brings with it environmental problems and adverse effects to the traditional communities and landscape is now often questioned.