Cumberland Island National Seashore News Release: Foundation Document Work Begins for Cumberland Island National Seashore

Cumberland Island National Seashore News Release

December 10, 2012

For Immediate Release

Maggie Tyler, 912-882-4336 ext. 257 

Foundation Document Work Begins for Cumberland Island National Seashore

(Denver, CO) —The National Park Service is preparing a Foundation Document for planning and management at Cumberland Island National Seashore. The park would like to invite the public to join in this effort.

A Foundation Document involves revisiting a national park unit’s core mission and significance, its most important resources and values, and the interpretive themes that tell the park’s important stories. Although the Foundation Document is not a decision-making document and does not include actions or management strategies, it describes a shared understanding of what is most important about the park. In this capacity, the Foundation Document will reestablish the underlying guidance for future management and planning decisions at Cumberland Island National Seashore. Because many of the park’s original planning documents are out of date, preparing the Foundation Document is the first step for considering the park’s future planning and study needs.

All park units in the national park system will have a Foundation Document by 2016, the 100-year anniversary of the creation of the National Park Service. Cumberland Island National Seashore is part of a nationwide effort to complete Foundation Documents for all 398 park units in the park system.

"The park would like to hear from our visitors about why Cumberland Island National Seashore is special to them, what resources are most threatened and what stories should be told to this and future generations," stated Fred Boyles, Superintendent. " I am pleased that we are developing this Foundation Statement that will help guide future stewardship of this beloved national treasure."

The National Park Service invites you to play a role in charting the park’s future by sharing your thoughts on what is most important about Cumberland Island National Seashore, and to help identify its most pressing threats and its greatest opportunities. Your feedback will allow the park to take your thoughts into consideration as they prepare the Foundation Document. 

You may submit your feedback by visiting the park planning website for Cumberland Island National Seashore at: http://parkplanning.nps.gov/CUIS. Visitors to this website will be able to submit responses to questions about the park’s significance, threats, and opportunities. You may also email your feedback directly to the park at: CUIS_planning@nps.gov. Additionally, comment postcards are available at the park visitor center in St. Marys, or by request by contacting the park. Comments submitted by mail, email, or using the park planning website will be most helpful if received by January 11, 2013. 

The public is also invited to attend an open house at the Cumberland Island National Seashore Visitor Center on Monday, January 28, 2013. This open house will be an informal forum to introduce the Foundation Document process and hear public feedback. National Park Service planning staff will be available to record your answers to questions concerning key aspects of Cumberland Island National Seashore. The open house will be held from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on January 28. The park visitor center is located at 113 West St. Marys Street in St. Marys, Georgia.

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