News Release

Visitor Use Management Plan Available for Public Review and Comment

Date: October 31, 2022
Contact: Robin Barker, 912 882 4336 x251

St. Marys, Georgia — A visitor use management plan for Cumberland Island National Seashore is available for public review and comment. The public is encouraged to review the plan, which includes an environmental assessment, and join National Park Service staff to learn more about the plan at a virtual public meeting on Thursday, November 17. Comments will be accepted through November 30, 2022. 

National Park Service staff at the park, regional office, and Denver Service Center developed the plan to thoughtfully determine appropriate opportunities for visitors to use, experience, and enjoy the park while protecting the area’s sensitive wildlife, ecosystems, historic buildings, cultural landscapes, and other resources. The objective of the plan is to provide park visitors, including those who have been historically disadvantaged and unable to visit, with opportunities to be inspired through personal connections with the natural wonders, special places, and important stories the park protects. 

In 1984, the park’s general management plan stated that “visitation to the island is to remain at approximately 300 people a day.” The plan updates that guidance, now close to four decades old, to be consistent with current best practices for managing visitor use on public lands and to account for recent social science research on visitor use levels, patterns, and visitor preferences conducted by Clemson and Kansas State Universities. 

As a result, the updated plan includes refined desired conditions that describe what the park is being managed for. These desired conditions were largely informed by legislative direction and previous planning, as well as public comments received early in the planning process. These comments generally expressed that people would like to see Cumberland Island retain its current primitive character, a sentiment clearly reflected in the desired conditions. To ensure these desired conditions are achieved across the island, the plan identifies visitor capacities for different areas of the park.  

The plan also analyzed how many passengers the ferry could deliver to the island each day to be consistent with the desired conditions and visitor capacities identified. This analysis estimates that the ferry could deliver approximately 600 people per day to the Dungeness and Sea Camp docks, and another 100 people per day to the Plum Orchard dock if that service is provided. These changes would be implemented adaptively, meaning the park would monitor key indicators to ensure sensitive shorebirds are protected, as are visitor opportunities to experience the rustic atmosphere, quiet solitude, and wilderness character described by visitors and public commenters. Adjustments would be made based on this monitoring. 

Other important elements of the plan include designation of a beach access area and shorebird protection area at South End Beach, as well as the prohibition of dogs on this section of beach. National Park Service staff developed these measures in partnership with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and US Fish and Wildlife Service to ensure protection of important nesting and foraging habitat for shorebirds. The plan also makes adjustments to the locations and number of allowable campers at wilderness campsites to expand and disburse camping opportunities, establishes a few new trails to distribute use more evenly across the island, calls for limited facilities including boardwalks and a pavilion to facilitate greater accessibility for visitors with a range of abilities, provides for kayak and canoe rentals on the island to diversify the available recreational opportunities, and includes limited health and safety items for sale on the island. 

The plan is the result of an effort that began in 2017. The park sought public feedback on draft strategies for visitor use management in spring 2019, receiving 2,260 individual correspondences that informed the direction of the plan. The effort then paused for a significant period as the park shifted focus to ensuring the health and safety of visitors, staff, and volunteers during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The park is again seeking the public’s input on the plan. Those interested in learning more about the plan and asking questions of park staff are encouraged to attend a virtual public meeting on Thursday, November 17 at 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time. The meeting can be accessed by visiting https://tinyurl.com/CUIS-VUM-Public-Meeting-2. Closed Captioning of the meeting will be available. The meeting will be recorded and available on the NPS planning website (https://parkplanning.nps.gov/CUIS_VUM_Plan) following the meeting. 

The plan and environmental assessment can be found, along with a summary of previous comments, at https://parkplanning.nps.gov/CUIS_VUM_Plan. Comments should be submitted electronically by November 30, 2022, at the same website. Or, you may hand-deliver or mail comments postmarked by November 30 to the park visitor center in St. Marys or the park headquarters at: Cumberland Island National Seashore, 101 Wheeler Street, Marys, GA 31558. All comments on the visitor use management plan and environmental assessment are informative and welcome. However, the National Park Service is particularly interested in comments regarding the accuracy and adequacy of the information and analysis contained in the plan, reasonable alternatives not considered in the plan, or factual corrections. Comments that are not as helpful include those that “vote” for or against a potential management strategy or decision without giving reasons why; agree or disagree with laws, regulations, or NPS policy; discuss other projects or other areas; or contain vague language or open-ended questions or statements. 

Following the public comment period, NPS staff will analyze and thematically summarize the comments, responding to comments that fit the criteria above. Amendments to the plan and environmental assessment will be made as needed and, if appropriate, a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) will be prepared to document the plan and its decisions.