39–006

108TH CONGRESS REPORT " HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ! 2d Session 108–738

CUMBERLAND ISLAND WILDERNESS BOUNDARY 

ADJUSTMENT ACT OF 2004

OCTOBER 6, 2004.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State 

of the Union and ordered to be printed 

Mr. POMBO, from the Committee on Resources, 

submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

together with 

DISSENTING VIEWS 

[To accompany H.R. 4887] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill 

(H.R. 4887) to adjust the boundary of the Cumberland Island Wilderness, to authorize tours of the Cumberland Island National Seashore, and for other purposes, having considered the same, report 

favorably thereon with an amendment and recommend that the bill 

as amended do pass. 

The amendment is as follows: 

Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the following:

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Cumberland Island Wilderness Boundary Adjustment Act of 2004’’. 

SEC. 2. CUMBERLAND ISLAND WILDERNESS BOUNDARY ADJUSTMENT. 

Public Law 97–250 (96 Stat. 709) is amended by striking section 2 and inserting 

the following: 

‘‘SEC. 2. CUMBERLAND ISLAND WILDERNESS. 

‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

‘‘(1) MAP.—The term ‘map’ means the map entitled ‘Cumberland Island Wilderness’, numbered 640/20,038I, and dated September 2004. 

‘‘(2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary of the Interior. 

‘‘(3) WILDERNESS.—The term ‘Wilderness’ means the Cumberland Island Wilderness established by subsection (b). 

‘‘(4) POTENTIAL WILDERNESS.—The term ‘Potential Wilderness’ means the 

10,500 acres of potential wilderness described in subsection (c)(2), but does not 

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include the area at the north end of Cumberland Island known as the ‘High 

Point Half-Moon Bluff Historic District’. 

‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Approximately 9,886 acres of land in the Cumberland Island National Seashore depicted on the map as ‘Wilderness’ is designated as a 

component of the National Wilderness Preservation System and shall be known 

as the ‘Cumberland Island Wilderness’. 

‘‘(2) EXCLUSIONS.—The 25-foot wide roadways depicted on the map as the 

‘Main Road’, ‘Plum Orchard’, and the ‘North Cut Road’ shall not be included in 

the Wilderness and shall be maintained by the Secretary for continued vehicle 

use. 

‘‘(c) ADDITIONAL LAND.—In addition to the land designated under subsection (b), 

the Secretary shall—

‘‘(1) on acquisition of the approximately 231 acres of land identified on the 

map as ‘Areas Become Designated Wilderness upon Acquisition by the NPS’; 

and 

‘‘(2) on publication in the Federal Register of a notice that all uses of the approximately 10,500 acres of land depicted on the map as ‘Potential Wilderness’

that are prohibited under the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.) have 

ceased, adjust the boundary of the Wilderness to include the land. 

‘‘(d) AVAILABILITY OF MAP.—The map shall be on file and available for public inspection in the appropriate offices of the National Park Service. 

‘‘(e) ADMINISTRATION.—Subject to valid existing rights, the Wilderness shall be administered by the Secretary, in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.) governing areas designated by that Act as wilderness areas, except that—

‘‘(1) any reference in such provisions to the effective date of that Act shall be 

deemed to be a reference to the effective date of this Act; and 

‘‘(2) where appropriate, any reference in that Act to the Secretary of Agriculture shall be deemed to be a reference to the Secretary. 

‘‘(f) EFFECT.—Any person with a right to utility service on Cumberland Island on 

the date of enactment of this subsection shall continue to have the right to utility 

service in the Wilderness after the date of enactment of this subsection. 

‘‘(g) MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR ACCESS TO MAIN ROAD AND NORTH CUT ROAD.—Not 

later than one year after the date of the enactment of the Cumberland Island Wilderness Boundary Adjustment Act of 2004, the Secretary shall complete a management plan to ensure that not more than 8 and not less than 5 round trips are made 

available daily on the Main Road north of the Plum Orchard Spur and the North 

Cut Road by the National Park Service or a concessionaire for the purpose of transporting visitors to and from the historic sites located adjacent to Wilderness.’’. 

SEC. 3. TOURS OF CUMBERLAND ISLAND NATIONAL SEASHORE. 

Section 6 of Public Law 92–536 (86 Stat. 1066) is amended—

(1) in subsection (b), by inserting ‘‘, except as provided in subsection (c),’’ before ‘‘no development of the project’’; and 

(2) by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘(c) TOURS OF THE SEASHORE.—Notwithstanding subsection (b), the Secretary may 

enter into not more than 3 concession contracts, as the Secretary determines appropriate, for the provision of tours for visitors to the seashore that are consistent 

with—

‘‘(1) this Act; 

‘‘(2) the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.); and 

‘‘(3) Public Law 97–250 (96 Stat. 709).’’. 

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of H.R. 4887 is to adjust the boundary of the Cumberland Island Wilderness, to authorize tours of the Cumberland 

Island National Seashore, and for other purposes. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

Cumberland Island National Seashore, located on the State of 

Georgia’s largest and southernmost barrier island, was established 

in 1972 by Public Law 92–536. In 1982, through the enactment of 

Public Law 97–250, Congress designated approximately 8,840 acres 

in the center of the Island as wilderness under the Wilderness Act 

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and designated an additional 11,718 acres in the northern and 

western part of the Island as potential wilderness. At the time, the 

proponents of the wilderness designation—primarily those who 

lived and worked on the Island—believed that wilderness designation was the only way to prevent anticipated development on the 

Island. Today, the current wilderness designation covers a majority 

of the Main Road that runs north and south on the Island as well 

as the North Cut Road and the Plum Orchard Spur. Because of the 

inclusion of these principal roads in the wilderness, access to many 

important historical and cultural resources is severely restricted, 

particularly for the National Park Service. The consequence of the 

wilderness designation was a dissection of the Seashore into three 

sections—making unfettered access to the Island’s cultural and historic resources in the central and north near impossible for the typical visitor to the Island. Meanwhile, in terms of the designated potential wilderness, once the nonconforming uses prohibited by the 

Wilderness Act have ceased in the area, the acreage will become 

designated wilderness. H.R. 4887 would remove the Main Road, 

Plum Orchard Spur Road and North Cut Road—approximately 25 

acres total (based on a 25 foot width)—from the designated wilderness area. This would allow for controlled vehicular access to Plum 

Orchard, the Settlement (a historic African American community) 

and the beach at the north end of the Island. 

H.R. 4887 would also allow any person with the right to utility 

service on the Island to continue to have the right to utility service 

in the wilderness area, and permit the Secretary to enter into one 

or more contracts with concession companies as the Secretary of 

the Interior determines to be appropriate for tours and visitors to 

the Seashore. As of now, Greyfield Inn, a historic bed and breakfast 

on the southern part of the Island, has a pre-existing right to conduct motorized tours on the Island. 

COMMITTEE ACTION

H.R. 4887 was introduced on July 21, 2004, by Congressman 

Jack Kingston (R–GA). The bill was referred to the Committee on 

Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on National Parks, Recreation and Public Lands. On September 14, 2004, 

the Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill. On September 22, 

2004, the Full Resources Committee met to consider the bill. Congressman George Radanovich (R–CA) offered an amendment in the 

nature of a substitute that made the following changes to the original text: (1) Added a new map and number to the bill; (2) removed 

the proposed wilderness designation from the southern part of the 

Island; (3) directed the Secretary of the Interior to develop a management plan for vehicle use of the Main Road and the North Cut 

Road; and (4) limited the number of concession contracts for tours 

of the Seashore to no more than three. The amendment was adopted by voice vote. The bill, as amended, was ordered favorably reported to the House of Representatives by a rollcall vote of 23 to 

15, as follows:

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Insert offset folio 5 here HR738.001
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COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII 

of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the Committee on Resources’ oversight findings and recommendations are reflected in 

the body of this report. 

CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT

Article I, section 8 of the Constitution of the United States 

grants Congress the authority to enact this bill. 

COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII 

1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of 

the House of Representatives requires an estimate and a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B) of that rule provides 

that this requirement does not apply when the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. 

2. Congressional Budget Act. As required by clause 3(c)(2) of rule 

XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section 

308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this bill does not 

contain any new budget authority, credit authority, or an increase 

or decrease in revenues or tax expenditures. According to the Congressional Budget Office, enactment of this bill could result in additional franchise fee payments to the federal government, which 

could then be spent by the National Park Service. This results in 

no net budgetary impact. 

3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. This bill does not 

authorize funding and therefore, clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the 

Rules of the House of Representatives does not apply. 

4. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate. Under clause 

3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 

section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate for this bill from the 

Director of the Congressional Budget Office:

H.R. 4887—Cumberland Island Wilderness Boundary Adjustment 

Act of 2004

H.R. 4887 would exclude three roads from land designated as 

wilderness or potential wilderness on Cumberland Island, a national seashore in Georgia. Under the bill, the National Park Service (NPS) would have to provide island visitors with between five 

and eight round-trips daily over these roads and would be authorized to enter into a limited number of concessions contracts for this 

purpose. Finally, the bill would authorize the NPS to add about 

230 acres to the wilderness area if that land is acquired by the 

agency under existing authority. 

Eliminating the national wilderness designations from the island’s roads and allowing private concessioners to use them would 

likely facilitate the development of Plum Orchard, an historic estate owned by the NPS that currently has little recreational use because it is only accessible to visitors by boat or on foot. The NPS 

has already spent more than $2 million to restore the mansion. 

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CBO expects that the agency would spend another $6 million to 

complete the mansion’s restoration even without legislation, but we 

believe that the project would become more expensive if the old estate is developed for visitor uses—a scenario that is likely under 

this legislation. As a result, we estimate that the cost of implementing the bill would be about $5 million over the next five years, 

assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts. This amount 

would be used to convert the mansion for visitor use and to provide 

a staging area for tourist traffic at an existing boat landing area. 

Alternatively, the necessary amounts could be provided by a future 

concessioner or lessee in exchange for lower franchise fees, but 

CBO has no basis for predicting such an outcome. 

CBO estimates that adding the 230 acres of property to the wilderness area of the island would have no significant cost. The NPS 

is already authorized to accept donation of the acreage, which is 

currently owned by a nonprofit organization. Finally, by allowing 

concession companies to operate on the island’s roads, enacting the 

bill could result in additional franchise-fee income to the federal 

government. Any such increases in offsetting receipts would be offset by additional direct spending, however, resulting in no net 

budgetary impact. 

H.R. 4887 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would 

impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments. 

The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Deborah Reis. This estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis. 

COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104–4 

This bill contains no unfunded mandates. 

PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW

This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or tribal law.

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW MADE BY THE BILL, AS REPORTED

In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of the 

House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by the bill, 

as reported, are shown as follows (existing law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new matter is printed in italic, 

existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in roman): 

SECTION 2 OF THE ACT OF SEPTEMBER 8, 1982

(Public Law 97–250) 

AN ACT To correct the boundary of Crater Lake National Park in the State of 

Oregon, and for other purposes. 

øSEC. 2. (a) In accordance with section 3(c) of the Wilderness Act 

(78 Stat. 890, 892; 16 U.S.C. 1132(c)), certain lands in the Cumberland Island National Seashore, Georgia, which comprise about 

eight thousand eight hundred and forty acres, and which are depicted on the map entitled ‘‘Wilderness Plan, Cumberland Island 

National Seashore, Georgia’’, dated November 1981, and numbered 

640–20038E, are hereby designated as wilderness and therefor, as 

components of the National Wilderness Preservation System. CerVerDate jul 14 2003 20:08 Oct 09, 2004 Jkt 039006 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\HR738.XXX HR738
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tain other lands in the Seashore, which comprise about eleven 

thousand seven hundred and eighteen acres, and which are designated on such map as ‘‘Potential Wilderness’’, are, effective upon 

publication in the Federal Register of a notice by the Secretary of 

the Interior that all uses thereon prohibited by the Wilderness Act 

have ceased, designated wilderness. Such notice shall be published 

with respect to any tract within such eleven thousand seven hundred and eighteen acre area after the Secretary has determined 

that such uses have ceased on that tract. The map and a description of the boundaries of the areas designated by this section as 

wilderness shall be on file and available for public inspection in the 

office of the Director of the National Park Service, Department of 

the Interior, and in the office of the Superintendent of the Cumberland Island National Seashore. 

ø(b) Within six months after the enactment of this Act, a map 

and a description of the boundaries of the Cumberland Island Wilderness shall be filed with the Energy and Natural Resources Committee of the United States Senate and with the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee of the United States House of Representatives. Such map and description shall have the same force and effect as if included in this Act, except that correction of clerical and 

typographical errors in such map and description may be made. 

ø(c) The wilderness area designated by this section shall be 

known as the Cumberland Island Wilderness. Subject to valid existing rights, the wilderness areas shall be administered by the 

Secretary of the Interior in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Wilderness Act governing areas designated by that Act 

as wilderness areas, except that any reference in such provisions 

to the effective date of the Wilderness Act shall be deemed to be 

a reference to the effective date of this Act, and where appropriate, 

any reference in that Act to the Secretary of Agriculture shall be 

deemed to be a reference to the Secretary of the Interior.¿

SEC. 2. CUMBERLAND ISLAND WILDERNESS. 

(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

(1) MAP.—The term ‘‘map’’ means the map entitled ‘‘Cumberland Island Wilderness’’, numbered 640/20,038I, and dated 

September 2004. 

(2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary of 

the Interior. 

(3) WILDERNESS.—The term ‘‘Wilderness’’ means the Cumberland Island Wilderness established by subsection (b). 

(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’’. 

(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—

(1) IN GENERAL.—Approximately 9,886 acres of land in the 

Cumberland Island National Seashore depicted on the map as 

‘‘Wilderness’’ is designated as a component of the National Wilderness Preservation System and shall be known as the ‘‘Cumberland Island Wilderness’’. 

(2) EXCLUSIONS.—The 25-foot wide roadways depicted on the 

map as the ‘‘Main Road’’, ‘‘Plum Orchard’’, and the ‘‘North Cut 

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Road’’ shall not be included in the Wilderness and shall be 

maintained by the Secretary for continued vehicle use. 

(c) ADDITIONAL LAND.—In addition to the land designated under 

subsection (b), the Secretary shall— (1) on acquisition of the approximately 231 acres of land 

identified on the map as ‘‘Areas Become Designated Wilderness 

upon Acquisition by the NPS’’; and 

(2) on publication in the Federal Register of a notice that all 

uses of the approximately 10,500 acres of land depicted on the 

map as ‘‘Potential Wilderness’’ that are prohibited under the 

Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.) have ceased, adjust the 

boundary of the Wilderness to include the land. 

(d) AVAILABILITY OF MAP.—The map shall be on file and available for public inspection in the appropriate offices of the National 

Park Service. 

(e) ADMINISTRATION.—Subject to valid existing rights, the Wilderness shall be administered by the Secretary, in accordance with the 

applicable provisions of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.) 

governing areas designated by that Act as wilderness areas, except 

that—

(1) any reference in such provisions to the effective date of 

that Act shall be deemed to be a reference to the effective date 

of this Act; and 

(2) where appropriate, any reference in that Act to the Secretary of Agriculture shall be deemed to be a reference to the 

Secretary. 

(f) EFFECT.—Any person with a right to utility service on Cumberland Island on the date of enactment of this subsection shall continue to have the right to utility service in the Wilderness after the 

date of enactment of this subsection. 

(g) MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR ACCESS TO MAIN ROAD AND NORTH

CUT ROAD.—Not later than one year after the date of the enactment 

of the Cumberland Island Wilderness Boundary Adjustment Act of 

2004, the Secretary shall complete a management plan to ensure 

that not more than 8 and not less than 5 roundtrips are made 

available daily on the Main Road north of the Plum Orchard Spur 

and the North Cut Road by the National Park Service or a concessionaire for the purpose of transporting visitors to and from the historic sites located adjacent to Wilderness.

SECTION 6 OF THE ACT OF OCTOBER 23, 1972

(Public Law 92–536) 

AN ACT To establish the Cumberland Island National Seashore in the State of 

Georgia, and for other purposes. 

SEC. 6. (a) * * *

(b) Except for certain portions of the seashore deemed to be especially adaptable for recreational uses, particularly swimming, boating, fishing, hiking, horseback riding, and for other recreational activities of similar nature, which shall be developed for such uses as 

needed, the seashore shall be permanently preserved in its primitive state, and, except as provided in subsection (c), no development 

of the project or plan for the convenience of visitors shall be undertaken which would be incompatible with the preservation of the 

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unique flora and fauna or the physiographic conditions not prevailing, nor shall any road or causeway connecting Cumberland Island to the mainland be constructed.

(c) TOURS OF THE SEASHORE.—Notwithstanding subsection (b), 

the Secretary may enter into not more than 3 concession contracts, 

as the Secretary determines appropriate, for the provision of tours 

for visitors to the seashore that are consistent with— (1) this Act; 

(2) the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.); and 

(3) Public Law 97–250 (96 Stat. 709).

(10)

DISSENTING VIEWS 

We oppose H.R. 4887 because the legislation would overturn the 

clear prohibitions on development and roads in wilderness contained in the 1972 Act establishing the Cumberland Island National Seashore and the 1982 Act designating the Cumberland Island Wilderness. 

Reopening roads in wilderness and allowing commercial operations to use those roads would fragment the wilderness and undermine the fundamental purpose of the 1972 and 1982 Acts which 

was to permanently preserve a significant portion of this unique island in its primitive state. 

The existing and potential wilderness on Cumberland Island is 

not very large, totaling less than 20,000 acres. Reopening three 

roads, including a road down the center of the wilderness would be 

a significant degradation of that wilderness. A contiguous block of 

wilderness would, under H.R. 4887, be sliced and diced into fragments. Further, the bill would also delete from potential wilderness 

all the beach frontage, and thus open that area to motorized use. 

By allowing concession tours of the island, the bill overturns a 

significant provision of the 1972 Act regarding uses of the area. 

This is a very important point. It is not just the Wilderness Act 

that prohibits commercial operations, it is also the 1972 Act establishing the National Seashore which restricted commercial operations so that the seashore ‘‘shall be permanently preserved in its 

primitive state.’’

On June 28, 2004, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a 

stinging rebuke to the National Park Service on transportation in 

the Cumberland Island wilderness. Rather than comply with that 

decision the proponents of H.R. 4887 seek to overturn the court decision legislatively. 

One of the main arguments that proponents make is that there 

should be access to African-American historic resources on the 

northern part of the island. However, there are numerous historic 

resources in the National Park System and in wildernesses across 

the country that are not accessible by motorized vehicles. Using 

that accessibility logic, do we believe the National Park Service 

should provide commercial motorized access to all historic resources in the National Park System? 

In fact, many of the historic African-American resources on Cumberland Island, like the Dungeness Ruins and the slave cemetery 

are easily accessible by car and probably the most important site, 

‘‘The Chimneys’’ is located approximately one-half mile within the 

wilderness. 

In Committee the legislation was made worse by the adoption of 

an amendment that made numerous changes to the bill. These 

changes include the deletion of 952 acres that in the original bill 

would be added to wilderness on the southern end of the island. 

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The National Park Service testimony on H.R. 4887 stated that the 

Administration’s support ‘‘is based in large part on the addition of 

these lands at the southern end of the island to the designated wilderness.’’ The amendment also specifies 25-foot road corridors 

opening the way for one lane roads to be turned into two lane 

roads. 

With or without the Committee amendment, H.R. 4887 is a misguided piece of legislation that would severely compromise the wilderness and overturn a fundamental purpose of the National Seashore dating back to its establishment in 1972. We oppose this bill 

and recommend our colleagues do likewise.

NICK RAHALL. 

DONNA M. CHRISTENSEN.

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