Off the coast of southern Georgia lies Cumberland Island National Seashore, a scenic marine paradise home to sea turtles, whales, and rare birds. Around 60,000 people visit the island each year, but that may soon change. The National Park Service (NPS) recently announced a new visitor use management plan that will create new campgrounds, concessions, and increased ferry service, an approach that’s sparked controversy from environmental groups.
What Is Cumberland Island National Seashore?
Created in 1972, the 36,000-acre island is close to the border with Florida and located about 2 hours north of Jacksonville. Separated from the coast by inlets, it’s only accessible by boat or ferry, which is a 45-minute ride from St. Marys, Ga. Visitors have the opportunity to enjoy 17 miles of uninterrupted, undeveloped beaches here, and it’s common to see families relaxing, playing, and enjoying a day of fun on the beach.
The vegetation-filled dunes here are also an important habitat for many rare and endangered species of wildlife, including loggerhead sea turtles. The United Nations named it an International Biosphere Reserve because it protects multiple species of migratory and shore birds.
What’s Changing
Every NPS-managed site has a visitor use management plan (VUMP), which outlines the agency’s approach to development, infrastructure, visitor use, and more. Any time a VUMP is updated, it goes through an established process that involves environmental analysis and the opportunity for public comments.
In an Aug. 31 press release, the NPS announced that it had finalized the new VUMP for Cumberland. The major changes concern two areas: campgrounds and infrastructure, and visitor services and access.
Campgrounds & Infrastructure
There are both backcountry and front-country campgrounds on the island, and the NPS is making changes to both. It’s planning to close one backcountry campground and open two new ones, changing the nightly capacity from 36 to 54 people.
It also plans to open a front-country campground near Nightingale Beach and add more sites to the existing Sea Camp Campground, increasing the nightly capacity from 112 to 148 people. All of these sites would be reservable online via recreation.gov. All told, this is a 36% increase in the number of people who can camp at Cumberland each evening.
To go along with these new campgrounds, the NPS plans to build several new structures. It will construct shade pavilions at Nightingale and Dungeness beaches; each would measure approximately 800 square feet. To service Nightingale Beach, it will also build a new bathhouse with restrooms and outdoor showers, as well as a trail directly connecting the beach to Nightingale Trail.
Visitor Access & Services
The fact that the island is only accessible by ferry limits the number of people who can access it. Now, the ferry only runs to the island twice in the morning, and back to the mainland once in the morning and twice in the afternoon. The plan would add increased ferry rides in the early morning and mid-afternoon, as well as a return option near sunset.
It also aims to increase service to Plum Orchard, a historic mansion constructed by the Carnegie family around the turn of the century. By definition, more ferry rides mean more seats and more people able to access the island.
The VUMP also explores adding more concession services to the seashore, including kayak and canoe rentals and guided tours at Plum Orchard and Dungeness Beach. The plan mentions adding motorized boat and vehicle tours so people can visit more of the island’s attractions in one day.
These tours’ benefits would include the “contribution to visitor understanding and appreciation of park resources not normally accessible, enhancement of the visitor experience, and assistance in educating visitors,” the document stated.
The Controversy
Some environmental and conservation nonprofits worry about the potential environmental impact of these changes. Back in June, when the VUMP process was still in development, multiple organizations, including Birds Georgia, Center for Biological Diversity, Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks, Defenders of Wildlife, National Parks Conservation Association, and Sierra Club, sent an open letter urging congressional members from Georgia to pressure the NPS to pause the plan.
They expressed concern that the new plan “would substantially increase visitation and development pressures on one of the most sensitive and biodiverse barrier islands on the Atlantic coast … We respectfully request that your offices urge NPS to pause advancement, funding, and implementation of the proposed land exchanges and visitor use proposals pending further public review and congressional oversight,” the letter said.
They also criticized the fact that the NPS has not developed a wilderness management plan or updated the island’s general management plan since 1984. The letter argues that even though half the island is designated wilderness, there is no wilderness management plan to protect and conserve this land.
There are several issues on the island, including an uncontrolled feral horse population, that they believe the agency needs to address. Essentially, visitor use is only half the equation, and they believe the NPS needs to focus equally on land management and conservation.
According to the NPS, an environmental study found that the changes to visitor numbers and infrastructure in this VUMP would produce “no significant impact.” The plan mentions posting signs informing the public about nesting for turtles and rare birds like the American oystercatcher and least tern.
“The Visitor Use Management Plan provides a flexible and forward-looking framework that will help us protect and manage what makes Cumberland Island so extraordinary,” Superintendent Melissa Trenchik said in a press release. “Because the plan allows for measured implementation, we can adjust our management strategy as visitor use levels change. This is not something that happens overnight—it’s a thoughtful, long-term approach that ensures we care for the island while still providing meaningful, memorable experiences for visitors.”
