ATLANTA – The National Park Service (NPS) is proposing four land exchanges at the Cumberland Island National Seashore the agency says would protect important parcels now privately owned from development.
But the lack of details surrounding the plan currently available to the public has environmental advocates worried it could threaten the pristine character of Georgia’s largest barrier island, defeating the purpose of Congress designating the national seashore more than 50 years ago.
“We find the proposal the park service has put out to be completely incongruent with the intent of the park,” Jessica Howell-Edwards, executive director of the nonprofit group Wild Cumberland, said during a virtual town hall on the project last month. “It’s very disheartening.”
Cumberland Island, Georgia’s southernmost barrier island, stretches for nearly 18 miles of pristine beaches and wilderness.
At its southern end are the ruins of Dungeness, a mansion built by steel magnate Andrew Carnegie’s brother Thomas in the 1880s.
Toward the northern end is the First African Baptist Church, built by former slaves in the 1890s and rebuilt in the 1930s. The church was the site of the wedding of John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette in 1996.
The island is reachable only by private boat and ferry service that operates twice daily from downtown St. Marys, with a return trip three times a day.
The NPS is seeking public comment on the proposal. The deadline for that input recently was extended from Oct. 6 to Oct. 20, presumably in response to the level of public interest in the plan.
Specifically, the NPS is proposing the following four land exchanges, according to a nine-page document released by the park service:
- Exchange 1: The NPS would receive about 10 acres of unimproved forest located on the marsh side of the island adjacent to Old River Trail, which hikers use as a route to and from Plum Orchard and an alternative to the main road. In exchange, land currently owned by the park service not in an area with high visitor use would be privatized.
- Exchange 2: The park service would receive about 132 acres of upland forest, salt marsh, and ocean frontage, which supports important habitat for shorebirds and federally threatened sea turtles. Acquiring the property would maintain a green corridor east of the main road to the beach and guarantee continuity of the Parallel Trail, the primary north-south artery for hikers. Again, the NPS would privatize land not located in an area with high visitor use.
- Exchange 3: The NPS would receive about 136 acres of upland forest, salt marsh, and ocean frontage east of the main road within the Greyfield Historic District. The property contributes to a greenway and habitat corridor that runs the entire length of the island’s east side. In exchange, NPS-owned property on the marsh side of the island would be privatized. Several structures of varying sizes are located in the area, collectively referred to as Davisville.
- Exchange 4: The park service would receive about 95 acres of unimproved forest land, 85 acres east of the main road and 10 acres west of the main road. The property is adjacent to the island’s main ranger station/visitor center and is 100 yards north of Sea Camp, the largest and busiest campground. In exchange, the NPS would privatize property near the far north end of the seashore within the High Point-Half Moon Bluff Historic District.
In each case, a conservation easement would protect important cultural and natural resources in order to limit development in those areas, according to the park service document.
“Once acquired, these parcels would be part of the seashore and no longer be subject to private development, eliminating that potential source of impacts to natural resources, cultural resources, and visitor uses in those areas,” the NPS document states.
The document goes on to state that the “exact acreages, locations, and terms of the conservation easements” will be part of the negotiation process with the private landowners.
That lack of specifics is what has environmental groups concerned.
“Until proposed deed restrictions and conservation easements are created for the sites to be exchanged, the extent of new private development cannot be predicted,” David Kyler, cofounder and director of the Center for a Sustainable Coast, wrote in an email to Capitol Beat.
“Knowing this is critical because private development directly conflicts with the island’s lawful purpose to ensure that Cumberland Island is maintained in its private state.”
Looming over the proposed land exchanges is a plan the park service unveiled two years ago that essentially would double daily visitation to the island from the current limit of 300 that dates back to 1984.
While the NPS argues its Visitor Use Management Plan would provide access to a wider range of visitors, preservationists say it would ruin what makes the island special.
“That has been the push and pull on Cumberland Island for decades,” said Ricky Leroux, communications strategist for the Georgia chapter of the Sierra Club. “How much of it is going to be wilderness versus development?”
Of some solace to environmental advocates is that the proposed land exchanges can’t move forward until their potential impacts are analyzed through a process required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). That review will involve additional public comment periods allowing concerned parties to gather more details on the project and express their views.
“Hopefully, more information will come out,” Leroux said. “(But) I would encourage as much transparency as possible at every step of the process.”