The National Park Service has proposed a Cumberland Island National Seashore Visitor Use Management Plan (VUMP) — again.
The plan would introduce sweeping changes to the uniquely wild landscapes of Georgia’s southernmost barrier island and fundamentally alter the visitor experience. Among other recommendations, the proposal would more than double visitor capacity from 300 to 700 ferry visitors daily and add more infrastructure, commercial services, recreation and transportation to and on the island. In short, it would transform one of the few remaining wild, primitive places in the Southeast.
Stakeholders and the public largely opposed the Park Service’s 2022 VUMP, and the 2025 plan is nearly identical but lacks staffing, funding, or visitor safety plans. It also uses the same data from the 2022 VUMP, which was already outdated, calling into question many of its conclusions about the needs and desires of the Seashore’s greatest investors and most vital stakeholders: the general public.
The constant struggle of Georgia’s public lands
Georgia has a long history of prioritizing economic interests and privatization over protecting resources for the commons. As of 2026, only 4.7 percent of Georgia comprises public lands, and all of its federally managed lands are under threat:
- A section of Trail Ridge in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge remains unprotected and vulnerable to future mining proposals;
- The U.S. Forest Service is threatening to rescind the wildly popular Roadless Rule, putting Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest’s undeveloped forests and watersheds relied upon by more than 5 million North Georgians at risk;
- And the National Park Service opposes Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park’s designation as Georgia’s first national park due to “strained resources”, despite strong public support and the political will of congress.
The proposed Cumberland Island VUMP highlights a common thread across public land management in Georgia. While it’s true that Georgia’s leaders and decision-makers have historically prioritized the economic interests of primarily extractive industries, Georgians deeply value these natural, wild and culturally rich places.
The rallying cry for public lands
Georgians speak up and act up for public lands in many ways. Communities rallying to save threatened protected lands underscore their low-cost role in preserving watersheds or making our coastlines safer. Agriculture and fishing industries are making links between land conservation and sustainable harvests. Georgia’s thriving outdoor recreation industry generates an estimated 238,000 jobs and $27.3b to Georgia’s economy annually. From their cultural value and meaning to making us safer, healthier and more economically resilient, we know how important our public lands are!
Preserving Cumberland Island has been important to Georgians for a long time. The adoption of the Seashore’s daily visitor limit of 300 people in the 1984 General Management Plan was not the result of an agency determination or scientific analysis. It was the result of over 4,000 people writing letters to the Park Service demanding the agency “leave the island alone” and maintain a 300-person limit.
During the 2025 government shutdown, the Seashore suspended operations – despite collecting visitor fees that could keep its proverbial doors open – and visitors with private transport took the charge to maintain facilities and grounds, leaving the campgrounds and shoreline pristine.
Once again, we’re imploring the agency not to turn Cumberland Island into yet another highly developed, commercialized Southeastern island and keep it wild.
What can NPS do differently?
The National Park Service can align their plans with the interests of the public – the agency’s greatest investors and stakeholders – by involving them in the planning process from start to finish. I believe a partnership with a friends group that supports the Seashore’s stewardship through volunteering, fundraising and advocacy is a great solution. The agency should also develop plans that reduce cost barriers for visitors and protect the island from further development, two priorities community members continually express in public comments and forums. The public’s priorities should be guidestones for future park planning.
What can you do?
If you want Cumberland Island to stay wild, tell the National Park Service how you want VUMP to look. Focus on one or two main issues that are important to you, and if you support the idea of a friends group, let the Park Service know!
Review the VUMP report and submit your public comment by February 21 at 11:59pm MT:
It is essential that we preserve our native lands. We have to have some places that are not overpopulated or used simply for economic gain. We must have balance and we already are way out of balance.
Excerpted from our comments about the plan submitted to NPS: “The VUMP should be subordinate to, and facilitated by, a plan for wilderness management by NPS, yet such a plan does not yet exist. Since nearly 10,000 acres of Cumberland are already designated as wilderness and an area described as potential wilderness could double that expanse, it is imperative that the management of wilderness takes priority and must precede adoption of visitation guidelines. Without a wilderness management plan, the VUMP cannot credibly, reliably serve the public interest.” See our complete comments at http://www.sustainablecoast.org . ~ David Kyler, Center for a Sustainable Coast
As a columnist at The Atlanta Constitution, I led the media fight to trash the Reagan administration plan to turn Cumberland Island into a kind of Disneyland. His Interior Secretary, James Watt, came to Atlanta to ask “What do you want?” I said the people want to keep Cumberland as is and the guy who came up with this plan transferred to the coldest area in the Park Service. Last I heard he was somewhere near Canada.
Cumberland is a true gem and should not be disturbed. Visitors should be kept at a minimum and school children should be a priority to experience our wonderful natural treasure.
This beautiful pristine island is one of Georgia’s gems and should not be developed. It is a National Seashore so I would not want to see the National Park Service increase its 300 daily visitor capacity to 700 daily.
This island is beautiful untouched and a historic destination for its natural untouched landscape and history! It’s not a huge place; why would you want to open it to risk the wild animals habitat and its natural environment?
Cumberland is a national treasure. It’s a place where my sons learned no Trace camping through scouting, and a love for nature and conservation. It’s a place of peace and tranquility, and should remain Untouched by commercialism and tourism. The human imprint on these wild places can be massive and destructive if not managed decisively and conservatively. Let Cumberland Island remain as it is, to be enjoyed as it is,.
I hate to hear what’s being planned. Cumberland Island is a special place – a rare wild treasure whose beauty and unique isolated ecosystem is worth protecting. Doubling visitation and adding commercial infrastructure would fundamentally change the experience and risk damaging the island’s ecosystem. Let’s keep this place wild and make sure it’s preserved for future generations.
Last year was my first year ever visiting Cumberland island and I had a blast. Cumberland is so a beautiful and one of the best aspects is that you are on the island with so few people. At times you feel like your group is the only group on the island. If you want a crowded beach you can go anywhere else. Somethings are best left preserved and untouched.
If lost, Cumberland island is an experience that we will never be able to get back. There is nothing about the magic of this location that demands further development of any kind. Let people Experience the island and their own sense of adventure, exploration, and connection to the world as it is now.
No one is going to look back fondly on a memory of some generic parking lot or sandwich stand. Just let the magic be and protect the land.