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THURSDAY. JANUARY 5. 2023 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 3A
Preservationists warn new visitation plan
would ruin pristine seashore at Cumberland Island
Tater Patch begins year
with Love Letters
By Dave Williams
Bureau Chief
Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA - Fifty years
after the Cumberland Island
National Seashore was estab
lished, the National Park
Service (NPS) is pushing a
plan that essentially would
double daily visitation to the
remote barrier island.
While the NPS is selling
its Visitor Use Management
Plan (VUMP) as a way to
provide access to the island’s
unique natural beauty to a
wider range of visitors,
preservationists say the plan
would min what makes Cum
berland special.
“The VUMP Plan is a dis
aster for the island,” Carol
Ruckdeschel, a biologist and
environmental activist who
has lived on Cumberland Is
land for decades, wrote in an
email to Capitol Beat.
“The NPS must be re
quired to do a complete En
vironmental Impact
Statement (EIS) and not be
allowed to sneak by with
only an assessment. Much of
the plan seems to follow no
rules or guidelines. It is out
rageous.”
Cumberland Island, Geor
gia’s largest and southern
most barrier island, stretches
for nearly 18 miles of pristine
beaches and wilderness.
At its southern end are the
ruins of Dungeness, a man
sion built by steel magnate
Andrew Carnegie’s brother
Thomas in the 1880s.
Toward the northern end
is the First African Baptist
Church, built by former
slaves in the 1890s and re
built in the 1930s. The church
was the site of the wedding of
John F. Kennedy Jr. and Car
olyn Bessette in 1996.
The island is reachable
only by private boat and ferry
service that operates twice
daily from downtown St.
Marys, with a return trip
three times a day.
Under the current visita
tion plan, which dates back to
photo Dan Pool
Cyclists ride on the dirt roads of Cumberland’s northern end. Under a proposed plan
more amenities would be added but the plan raises concerns about damaging the unique
barrier island’s fragile maritime forests.
1984, the ferries limit access
to 300 visitors a day. The new
plan calls for delivering up to
600 visitors each day to two
docks on the western shore
near the southern end of the
island and potentially another
100 at a dock at Plum Or
chard, an estate in the middle
of Cumberland’s western
shore.
Gary Ingram, the national
seashore’s superintendent,
said the genesis of the idea
for increasing the number of
visitors allowed on Cumber
land came from Camden
County residents who com
plained to him that the ferry
trip is too expensive.
“Many bom and raised in
our local area have never
been to Cumberland Island,”
Ingram said last month dur
ing a public meeting on the
new plan. “This group is far
more diverse than the major
ity of people who visit the
park. ... We are hopeful this
small increase in visitation
will lower the price of the
ferry.”
Andrew White, a visitor
use management specialist
with the NPS Planning Divi
sion, said the island already
has proven capable of sus
taining more than 300 daily
visitors without adverse im
pact because of the number
of additional visitors who
travel to the island by boat
each day or camp overnight.
“We know our current
management is for more than
300 people on the island on a
busy day,” he said.
Ingram said the new plan
would give visitors who now
stick mainly to the southern
end of Cumberland greater
access to more of the island,
particularly if the NPS opens
ferry service to Plum Or
chard. He said limiting the
ferries to the two docks at the
southern end of Cumberland
causes congestion at times.
To better disperse visitors,
the NPS plan calls for adding
two new campsites on the
northern end of Cumberland
and opening Hunt Camp near
Plum Orchard to the public.
The plan also would add
pavilions with open sides at
two beaches, a bathhouse at
Nightingale Beach, kayak
and canoe rentals and retail
sale of “health and safety”
items including sunscreen
and bug spray.
A beach access area with
a boat landing would be
added at the southern end of
the island near a shorebird
protection area that would be
off limits to the public. Bicy
cle use would be expanded
further north.
“It is our hope that this
plan not only enhances the
visitor experience but also
protects the valuable one-of-
a-kind resources on Cumber
land,” Ingram said.
But preservationists say
such amenities would violate
the purpose of Cumberland
Island National Seashore en
visioned when it was estab
lished in 1972.
“The seashore, as reflected in
its originating legislation, is
intended to be a primitive ex
perience for ALL visitors -
not only those who seek a
wilderness experience,” the
nonprofit group Wild Cum
berland wrote in a statement.
“If we don’t exhibit the re
straint necessary to ensure
that places like Cumberland
Island remain undeveloped
now - none will remain in the
future.”
While a public comment
period on the new visitation
plan ends on Friday, Dec. 30,
the NPS isn’t expected to
issue a final decision until
this summer.
This story is available
through a news partnership
with Capitol Beat News Serv
ice, a project of the Georgia
Press Educational Founda
tion.
No, I’m not talking about
the kind for your AC unit. I
mean your personal speech
filters.
Some of us need a filter
on our speech when we com
municate. When we lack a
filter, we undermine our ef
fectiveness in communicat
ing with people, whether
those are family and friends,
coworkers and neighbors, or
acquaintances and strangers.
Have you ever known
someone who tends to say
everything he thinks? There
is no filter between thoughts
and speech. It is a flawed
type of communication that
reasons, “If I think it, I
should say it.”
Ever watch The Golden
Girls? If so, you probably re
member Sophia, the mother
of Dorothy. Sophia had a
stroke at some point and lost
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her filters (or her ability to
check what she was saying
before she said it.) It would
embarrass her daughter,
Dorothy, but Sophia’s com
ments were rarely hurtful,
just hilarious.
Whether or not you have had
a stroke, we all have filters
based in part on how we were
raised and what we were
taught. These are internal
thoughts that allow us to fil
ter what we say.
Basically, the best filter
consists of asking just three
questions before communi
cating in person or over the
phone.
1. Is that which I’m about
to say true?
2. Is it kind?
3. Is it necessary?
Words matter. Our tongue
has the power to build or to
destroy. One of our strongest
assets is the ability to com
municate through many
means but particularly
through speaking. The words
we choose, the tone and in
flection can fill a person's
soul for flight or bore holes in
their heart. We've all done it.
We've all had it done to us.
So, how do we consistently
think before we speak?
Listen more than talk.
Placing yourself in the other
person's shoes may give you
a better viewpoint to their
perspective. Listen with an
open mind. Focus on what
the person is saying and hold
your opinions. Once you feel
you have something appro
priate to add to the conversa
tion, speak carefully.
Watch your silent mes
sages. Be aware of the mes
sage your body language can
broadcast. Turn toward the
speaker, make eye contact,
and don't be doing something
w »w
Submitted by Tater Patch
Players
Love Letters, by A. J Gur
ney, is a small jewel of a play.
Whether it’s performed on
Broadway, or at our local
community theater, audi
ences have loved this play for
decades.
This show is a funny and
emotional portrait about the
powerful connection of love.
Two friends, rebellious
Melissa and straight-arrow
Andrew have exchanged
notes, cards and letters with
each other for over 50 years.
From second grade, through
summer vacations, to col
lege, and well into adulthood,
they have spent a lifetime
discussing their hopes and
ambitions, dreams and disap
pointments, and victories and
defeats. But long after the
letters are done, the real
question remains: Have they
made the right choices or is
the love of their life only a
letter away?
Tater Patch Players is pre
senting the performances on
February 10, 11, 12, 17 and
18. Please note, for those
who love, these dates sur
round Valentine’s Day. The
performance on the 12th is at
2 p.m. and the rest are at 7:30
p.m. at the Tater Patch Play
ers theater at 95 Philadelphia
Lane in Jasper. Tickets may
be bought online at
www.taterpatchplayers.org
anytime, or at the box office
beginning one hour before
each performance.
The dress is casual and
there will be snacks and bev
erages at the refreshment
stand. The director, Nan
Nawrocki, has cast actors
who are married and very
much in love - Buffy and
Jacob Clark. The three of
them are working together in
rehearsal to bring you, our
audience members all the
emotions in this show, in
cluding lots of humor. If
you’ve never been to your
community theater, the direc
tor and cast urge you to make
your first visit during one of
these five performances. We
believe you’ll become a reg
ular patron!
A uditions for Steel
Magnolias
While Buffy and Jacob
are busy rehearsing, the the
ater will also be holding au
ditions for the play to follow,
the much-loved Steel Mag
nolias by Robert Harling.
This show has six very
powerful female characters
and the director, Jan Simp
son, is hoping that they will
come audition on Sunday
January 15th and Monday
January 16th from 6:30 p.m.
to 8 p.m. The Tater Patch
Players production of Steel
Magnolias will open on
March 23rd and run for 3
weekends.
else while they're talking.
Listen attentively and oc
casionally respond with a
supporting word or two.
If you edit your thoughts be
fore you speak, others will
more easily understand what
you want to say, and the risk
of miscommunication will be
greatly decreased. Before
you speak ask yourself if
what you’re about to say is
worth it.
Remember that in any
conversation, you should
focus on the other person’s
words instead of preparing
what you will say when they
stop speaking. Keep your fil
ter in place and you will have
great conversations!
[Mary Migliaro, M.Ed. is
an educator and Parent
Mentor. She may be reached,
marymigliaro@aol.com. If
you have a parenting issue
you'd like to see in future
columns, send it to
maiymigliaro@aol.com.]
Board of Education
Sue Finley, Chair
Tommy Gartrell, Vice Chair
Tucker Green
Aaron Holland
Steve Smith
PICKENS COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION
BOARD MEETING
Board meeting location:
Pickens County Board of Education Central Office
100 D.B. Carroll Street
Jasper, GA 30143
Meeting Date:
January 12, 2023 - Called Meeting 5:00 p.m.
January 12, 2023 - Regular Monthly Meeting 6:00 p.m.
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