Park Service Keeps Its Promise

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 historic walking tours.

It was an incredibly gutsy decision—and certainly the right one. Both the law and the vision for Cumberland Island National Seashore are very clear: retained rights are meant to expire over time so that the Park can gradually revert to a more natural character. Taxpayers already paid millions of dollars to these families to purchase their lands, and they acknowledged their gratitude to the sellers by allowing them to continue living on Cumberland Island National Seashore for nearly 40 years. Many other retained rights will not expire for at least another 40 years or more.

The Park Service faced enormous political pressure from the wealthy families who wanted to extend their retained rights indefinitely. The families lobbied many higher-ups within the Department of the Interior. But the National Park Service didn’t cave. They did what was best for the park and its 50,000 annual visitors, and they kept their promise to the American people.

Had they extended their retained rights (through a so-called historic lease), every other family on Cumberland would have expected the same indefinite extension, and the island would have never escaped the traffic and trappings of these island families. But by choosing to retire the retained rights as promised, they keep the island on course to evolve into a more wild and natural seashore.

Unfortunately, the fight is far from over. Island families are already voicing their opposition to the plan in large numbers. During the next 30 days of public comment, it is critical that the Park Service receive an overwhelming number of responses  in support of the plan.
Suggested comments appear below:

I fully support the National Park Service’s preferred alternative to open The Grange to the public and not extend a historic lease, which would perpetuate retained rights indefinitely on Cumberland Island.  Both the law and the vision for Cumberland Island National Seashore are clear: retained rights are meant to expire over time so that the Park can gradually revert to a more natural character. Taxpayers already paid millions of dollars to these families to purchase their lands, and they acknowledged their gratitude to the sellers by allowing them to continue living on Cumberland Island National Seashore for nearly 40 years. The preferred alternative for The Grange is in the best interests of the park and the American public.

However, I am concerned about the park’s plan to keep and maintain four additional retained estate houses for internal park use, including a structure within the original wilderness boundaries. None of the structures are historic, and maintaining them is an unnecessary drain on limited park resources that will have very negative effects on the wilderness and natural character of the island.

Thank you for courageously choosing the preferred alternative to open the Grange to the public and not to offer a historic lease.

Sincerely,