Wilderness Watch is opposing four land exchanges the National Park Service proposes for Cumberland Island in southern Georgia. While the proposal lacks a lot of necessary information, it’s clear the exchanges would benefit private interests far more than the public interest, and would undermine Congress’ intent when establishing the Cumberland Island National Seashore and Wilderness—that the island would be allowed to rewild over time.
Cumberland Island is the largest undeveloped barrier island on the eastern seaboard and one of the gems of America’s National Park system, with its massive live oak maritime forests, saltwater marshes, and a spectacular white sand beach, home to loggerhead sea turtles. Its unique ecological values led the United Nations to designate it an international biosphere reserve.
Once the private enclave of wealthy families, the federal government acquired most of the private land on Cumberland Island in the 1960s to save it from real estate development like that which had beset many other barrier islands. Then Congress established the Cumberland Island National Seashore in 1972. Many of the previous land owners—as part of the deal when selling their land—retained the right to occupy the land for a specified period of time. Some of these “retained rights” have already expired and all eventually will.
In 1982, Congress designated much of the island’s northern two-thirds as the Cumberland Island Wilderness, or as potential Wilderness in areas with retained rights. Already quite a treasure, Cumberland Island was on the path to wild restoration and becoming one of the premier Wildernesses in the National Wilderness Preservation System.
Unfortunately, some of the retained rights owners or their heirs have worked to undo the deals made decades ago by trying to regain complete private ownership of lands that are currently part of the national seashore and potential Wilderness. They’ve recently been working behind the scenes with the NPS to make that happen—this proposal is the result of those backroom deals.
Though the details provided are vague, it appears some of the lands the NPS is proposing to “acquire” are lands the federal government already bought from the families trying to regain title to them. It’s a good deal for the private interests, but a terrible one for the public, and will undermine six decades of rewilding Cumberland Island.
In our comments opposing the land exchanges, we noted that the NPS has the authority to acquire remaining private lands on the island, and it should use that authority rather than trading away public lands. Exchange proposal #4 on the north end of the island poses the greatest threat to existing or potential Wilderness and must not be pursued under any condition.
We also urged NPS to suspend any further efforts on these exchanges until all of this information is made available to the public, and to provide another public comment period when the information is released.
Photo: NPS