A Louisiana landscape of centuries-old sugar cane plantations and enduring Afro-Creole culture along the Mississippi River had been eligible for receiving rare federal protection following a multi-year review by the National Park Service. Community organizations bemoaned the decision as undermining efforts to preserve the rich yet endangered cultural legacies of free African American communities that grew out of slavery. The region, in the heart of Louisiana's heavily industrialized Chemical Corridor in St. John the Baptist Parish, has been at the center of conflicts between grassroots community groups challenging the expansion of polluting industrial facilities and officials and business leaders doubling down on their importance for sustaining local economies.