STATEMENT OF SUE MASICA, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR FOR PARK PLANNING, FACILITIES, AND LANDS, NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTTEE ON NATIONAL PARKS, RECREATION, AND PUBLIC LANDS OF THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON RESOURCES, CONCERNING H.R. 4887, A BILL TO ADJUST THE BOUNDARY OF THE CUMBERLAND ISLAND WILDERNESS AND TO AUTHORIZE TOURS OF THE CUMBERLAND ISLAND NATIONAL SEASHORE.
SEPTEMBER 14, 2004
Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you to present the views of the Department of the Interior on H.R. 4887, a bill to adjust the boundary of the Cumberland Island Wilderness and to authorize tours of the Cumberland Island National Seashore, and for other purposes.
The Department supports H.R. 4887. On October 30, 2003, the Department testified in support of S. 1462, an identical bill. The bill would remove three roads; the Main Road, North Cut Road, and the Plum Orchard Spur, from designation as wilderness or potential wilderness. Removing these roads from wilderness would allow the National Park Service (NPS), its concessioners and permittees to have vehicular access to Plum Orchard, The Settlement, and the beach at the north end of the island.
H.R. 4887 would also amend a significant provision of the seashore’s enabling legislation to expressly authorize tours by concessioners. The enabling legislation currently states that the island shall be permanently preserved in its primitive state and no “development … or plan for the convenience of visitors” shall be undertaken that would be incompatible with preserving the island’s natural resources. The bill provides that, notwithstanding this prohibition, the National Park Service may enter into concession contracts for tours of the island, thereby enabling the public to visit portions of the island that otherwise would be difficult to access.
When President Reagan signed the act establishing the Cumberland Island Wilderness, he noted “[i]ncluding areas [of Cumberland Island] into the National Wilderness Preservation System which do not meet the suitability criteria of the Wilderness Act System will necessarily create conflicts in management of the area.” These words from 1982 have proven to be prophetic. Conflict has encumbered the management of Cumberland Island ever since enactment of the wilderness legislation, with the principal point of contention being a network of roads located within the wilderness and potential wilderness areas at the seashore which are legislatively designated in both areas.
At the time it enacted the Cumberland Island wilderness legislation, Congress expressly acknowledged the existing legal rights of island residents to use roads through wilderness to reach their property. The result has been conflicts between those wishing to uphold a vision of wilderness for the island and those wishing to go about their lives on the island as they always have.
One of these conflicts involves motorized tours through the wilderness provided by the Greyfield Inn. For many years the owners of the inn have offered commercial tours on roads in designated and potential wilderness. Wilderness advocacy groups have vigorously opposed this use and dispute Greyfield’s claim that it has a pre-existing legal right to conduct the tours. At present some of these groups are seeking to stop the tours through litigation, arguing that it is unlawful to conduct motorized tours in designated wilderness. The Court has remanded the case to the NPS to decide whether Greyfield has a pre-existing right to conduct the tours and the NPS is in the process of doing so.
Some have also complained that the wilderness restrictions limit vehicular access to two of the national seashore’s more noteworthy historical and cultural features, the Plum Orchard mansion and the High Point-Half Moon Bluff Historic District (an African-American settlement). While Plum Orchard is accessible by water, neither of these sites is accessible by vehicle except by using roads that cross wilderness or potential wilderness. Under NPS policy, both designated and potential wilderness areas must be managed as wilderness, meaning that mechanized transport is prohibited subject to the limited exception of the Wilderness Act. Past efforts to lease Plum Orchard for adaptive re-use and preservation have not been successful, in part, because the principal access road, the Plum Orchard Spur, lies in potential wilderness. Finding an appropriate and successful adaptive use is critical to long-term preservation of this nationally significant historic structure.
It is our understanding that part of the intent of the legislation is to enhance the ability of the NPS to maintain the cultural resources of the High Point-Half Moon Bluff Historic District by removing this area from potential wilderness. However, while this intent is apparent from the map that accompanies the bill, the legislation itself does not contain language that would expressly accomplish this result. We suggest that the bill be amended to remove this possible confusion. Our suggested amendment is attached to this testimony as well as some additional technical amendments.
The map that accompanies H.R. 4887 depicts an area of approximately 952 acres on the southern tip of Cumberland Island that would be newly designated as wilderness, to offset the acreage in the High Point–Half Moon Bluff Historic District, as well as the three roads, that would be removed from either wilderness or potential wilderness. The NPS supports this concept of ensuring that there is “no net loss” of wilderness at Cumberland Island. In fact, support for H.R. 4887 is based in large part on the addition of these lands at the south end of the island to the designated wilderness.
Potential costs associated with enactment of H.R. 4887 would include the cost of a feasibility study and environmental compliance that would be required before a concession contract would be awarded for tours of the island. This type of concessions study usually costs between $25,000 and $35,000. Other costs that might be required on NPS lands in order to support concessions operations, such as facilities, would be determined by this study. There might also be some costs associated with managing lands that will change designation under this bill but they are expected to be minor.
That concludes my testimony. I would be pleased to answer any questions that you or other members of the subcommittee may have.
Proposed Amendments
H.R. 4887, Cumberland Island National Seashore Wilderness Boundary Act of 2003
Page 2, line 5, strike “640/20,038F, and dated April 2003”, and insert “640/20,038G, and dated September 2003”.
Page 2, line 11, insert a new paragraph, “(4) POTENTIAL WILDERNESS. – The term Potential Wilderness means the 10,500 acres of potential wilderness described in subsection (c)(2), but does not include the area at the north end of Cumberland Island known as the High Point-Half Moon Bluff Historic District.
Page 2, line 24, strike “approximately 210 acres of land identified on the map as ‘The Nature Conservancy ’”, and insert “approximately 231 acres of land identified on the map as ‘Areas Become Designated Wilderness upon Acquisition by NPS’”.