Gary Ingram arrived at Cumberland Island National Seashore in January 2014 on a four month assignment as acting superintendent, following the hasty departure of Fred Boyles. Recently, the National Park Service announced that by mid-May, Ingram will begin serving as the permanent superintendent. Before arriving on Cumberland Island, Ingram was the superintendent of the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site in […]
The National Park Service recently announced that they will accept bids for a new ferry service to Cumberland Island. Now officials and local entrepreneurs in both St. Marys and Fernandina Beach are pushing to increase the number of daily visitors to the island hopes that more tourism will stimulate their economies. Wild Cumberland opposes an increase in the number of […]
Fred Boyles retired from his post as Cumberland Island National Seashore Superintendent in late 2013. An interim superintendent will fill in until a permanent superintendent is selected by May 2014. On 8 June 2009, Fred Boyles stepped in to fill the vacancy left by the firing of the previous superintendent, Jerre Brumbelow. Guiding the management of Cumberland Island has always […]
The Park Service has proposed a harmful fire management plan that would actually increase its manipulation of island ecosystems, even in the wilderness. Fire will continue to be suppressed, and salt water and fire retardant chemicals dumped across the island. Even worse, the Park Service proposes to do more mechanical fire interventions like bulldozing swaths of the island wilderness and […]
After decades of fire suppression, the National Park Service may be lifting its ban on fire. They have released a draft Fire Management Plan which proposes prescribed burns to reduce fuel loads on the island. Fire is essential to the health of the island. While prescribed burns are a step in the right direction, we encourage the park to adopt […]
The Roller Coaster Trail is probably my favorite trail on Cumberland Island. I had traveled seven hours by car, then another hour by ferry, then trekked ten miles just to reach it. I was hoping to find a quiet footpath in the wilderness, an undisturbed hike immersed in the wild heart of Cumberland Island. Instead, I found four wheelers. The […]
In one month, the National Park Service received over 2,000 comments on its retained rights property disposition plan. Many were in support of opening The Grange to the public. Others were critical of the Park’s plan to maintain three additional island buildings for government housing. The National Park Service’s Retained Rights Property Disposition proposes making the Carnegie structure at Dungeness, […]
The Park Service deserves our support for opening The Grange to the public, but the rest of the retained estate management plan needs a closer look. While housing for essential Park Service personnel at Little Greyfield is logical and mentioned in the General Management Plan, many structures outside that area have come to be used as housing for discretionary personnel […]
The National Park Service announced a courageous decision on the most important issue facing Cumberland Island: retirement of retained rights. This week, the Park chose not to allow a wealthy island family to continue living on the island after their retained rights had already expired. Instead, The Grange will be opened to the public and integrated into the south end […]
V.J. Henry, co-founder and chairman of Wild Cumberland, passed away last year. To honor V.J.’s conservation legacy, his daughter Carolyn Rader recently donated $500 to the chapter. Both V.J. and Carolyn have been long-time champions of Cumberland Island’s wilderness. V.J. earned his doctorate in Oceanography from Texas A & M. He joined the faculty at the University of Georgia and […]