NPS Land Swaps and Visitor Plan Opens the Door to Devastating Impacts on Imperiled Wildlife at Cumberland Island

In advance of a public meeting on proposed land exchanges on Cumberland Island National Seashore, Defenders of Wildlife called on the National Park Service to remedy a host of management issues facing one of the largest undeveloped barrier islands on the East Coast. The NPS finalized plans to double visitation and is currently awaiting approval on two proposed land exchanges which would transfer ecologically important federal land into private ownership.  

“The exchanges would pave the way for roadbuilding and 15,000-square-foot mansions on lands that were meant to be protected from development,” said Christian Hunt, director of national wildlife refuges and parks program at Defenders of Wildlife. “More than 50 years ago, President Nixon signed legislation designating the Seashore and mandating that it be permanently preserved in its primitive state. These land exchanges do the exact opposite and are yet another illustration of this administration’s disregard for long-standing conservation policy.”

Negotiations for the proposed exchanges took place for years outside public view, prompting Defenders to file FOIA requests for all four land exchanges to obtain key details that had never been publicly disclosed. Documents confirmed that NPS negotiated key terms of the exchanges over this extended period before conducting environmental reviews or giving the public an opportunity to weigh in.  

Over a century ago, the NPS Organic Act was signed into law to conserve park resources and values unimpaired for future generations. Yet these land exchanges and the resulting traffic and increase in human pressures that would follow threaten several imperiled species that call this island home, including multiple species of sea turtles, along with piping plovers, red knots and American oystercatchers.  

At the same time, NPS has also approved a new Visitor Use Management Plan that will increase the total number of daily visitors permitted on the island disregarding substantial public opposition. Among other conclusions, the plan acknowledges that increased visitation, artificial lighting and domestic dogs can disturb nesting and foraging shorebirds — yet it has refused to manage that threat through appropriate planning. Despite these acknowledgements, the agency’s environmental assessment concluded with a “Finding of No Significant Impact” even though the plan will exponentially increase foot traffic on the island and ultimately disturb wildlife and their habitat.  

“Historically, daily visitation on Cumberland Island has been limited to 300 visitors to conserve its delicate resources — but the new visitor plan, which is widely condemned by locals, more than doubles that number to 700,” said Kelly Cox, senior policy and planning specialist at Defenders of Wildlife. “More visitors will result in more habitat disturbance, more human-wildlife interactions and more strain on sensitive areas.  The century-old NPS Organic Act explicitly requires NPS to protect park resources from damage. Increasing visitation despite documented harm from increased visitors is exactly what Congress sought to prevent.”  

In addition to the land swaps and proposed visitor plan, the Seashore faces an unresolved problem with non-native feral horses. The NPS has refused to adopt a feral horse management plan, making Cumberland Island the only park on the East Coast without one.  

The public has until October 16 to submit comments on the proposed land exchanges.  

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