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Long-Range Interpretive Plan, Dry Tortugas National Park

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Long-Range Interpretive Plan, Dry Tortugas National Park LONG-RANGE INTERPRETIVE PLAN Dry Tortugas National Park 2003 Cover Photograph: Aerial view of Fort Jefferson on Garden Key (fore- ground) and Bush Key (background). COMPREHENSIVE INTERPRETIVE PLAN Dry Tortugas National Park 2003 LONG-RANGE INTERPRETIVE PLAN Dry Tortugas National Park 2003 Prepared by: Department of Interpretive Planning Harpers Ferry Design Center and the Interpretive Staff of Dry Tortugas National Park and Everglades National Park INTRODUCTION About 70 miles west of Key West, Florida, lies a string of seven islands called the Dry Tortugas. These sand and coral reef islands, or keys, along with 100 square miles of shallow waters and shoals that surround them, make up Dry Tortugas National Park. Here, clear views of water and sky extend to the horizon, broken only by an occasional island. Below and above the horizon line are natural and historical treasures that continue to beckon and amaze those visitors who venture here. Warm, clear, shallow, and well-lit waters around these tropical islands provide ideal conditions for coral reefs. Tiny, primitive animals called polyps live in colonies under these waters and form skeletons from cal- cium carbonate which, over centuries, create coral reefs. These reef ecosystems support a wealth of marine life such as sea anemones, sea fans, lobsters, and many other animal and plant species. Throughout these fragile habitats, colorful fishes swim, feed, court, and thrive. Sea turtles−−once so numerous they inspired Spanish explorer Ponce de León to name these islands “Las Tortugas” in 1513−−still live in these waters. Loggerhead and Green sea turtles crawl onto sand beaches here to lay hundreds of eggs. Birds nest on these islands, too. Each year some 100,000 sooty terns gather on Bush Key to nest along with about 2,500 brown noddies. Above all this, Frigate birds soar and migratory birds fly over the Dry Tortugas−−an important stopover point along the principal flyway between North America and South America. Evidence of human history abounds here, too. After Ponce de León named the islands for their plentiful sea turtles, later mariners marked them as the “Dry” Tortugas since they held no fresh water. Lighthouses were built here in 1825, 1856, and 1876 to warn sailors; even so, dozens of shipwrecks attest to this area’s underwater dangers. In 1846, the United States started to build Fort Jefferson−−North America’s largest fully casemated fort−−on Garden Key. By the early 1860s, Fort Jefferson was fulfilling its intended role of protecting U.S. ships passing through the Straits of Florida. Confronted by enormous obstacles, workers struggled for nearly 30 years to build this island fortress. Outmoded and never completed, however, the fort was abandoned by the Army in 1874. President Theodore Roosevelt declared these islands “Dry Tortugas Keys Reservation” in 1908. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt created Fort Jefferson National Monument; this National Park Service unit was enlarged and designated Dry Tortugas National Park in 1992. Since 1935, the NPS has protected the park while allowing visitors to enjoy its resources. This Long-Range Interpretive Plan (LRIP) will help the park staff meet this challenge of balancing resource protection with visitor use by reaffirming the foundations of the park’s interpretive efforts, describing its current interpretive program, and recommending interpretive goals that can be achieved over the next seven to ten years. ii At Dry Tortugas National Park, loggerhead and green sea turtles (below, right) lay their eggs on many of the park’s sand beaches, and sooty terns (right) nest on Bush Key. Fort Jefferson (above) dominates Garden Key, with its lighthouse (above, right). Underwater, coral reefs (below) support smallmouth grunts (below, right corner) and dozens of other marine animal species. iii LONG RANGE INTERPRETIVE PLAN Within the National Park Service planning hierarchy, a park’s General Management Plan (GMP) guides park management decisions over a period of about 20 years. In the case of Dry Tortugas National Park, the guiding document is a GMP Amendment, approved in 2001. A park’s Comprehensive Interpretive Plan (CIP) is one of a handfull of strategic plans that describes implementation of specific aspects of the GMP Amendment. The Long-Range Interpretive Plan (LRIP) is the keystone of the CIP planning process, remaining in place for 5 to 10 years. It is supported by two dynamic components −− the Annual Implementation Plan (AIP) and an Interpretive Database (ID); both of these components of the CIP planning process are updated annually by park staff. This LRIP for Dry Tortugas NP was created in 2002 with input from a variety of park partners during a workshop in Key West, Forida in December 2001 and a workshop with media specialists in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia in February 2002. The LRIP describes the park’s interpretive themes and visitor experience goals and recommends ways to achieve those goals through interpretive media, education programs, and personal services. The LRIP’s recommendations are projected over the next seven to ten years. These actions are dependent, of course, on the timely receipt of funds and the ability of the park’s many partners to support them. This LRIP is a guide for park man- agement to reach the “ideal future vision” for interpretive services and media for visitors to Dry Tortugas National Park. iv EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Dry Tortugas National Park (NP)−−located at the extreme southwestern tip of the Florida Keys−−is administered by the National Park Service (NPS) from the headquarters of Everglades NP in Homestead, Florida. The NPS has managed Fort Jefferson on Garden Key in the Dry Tortugas since Fort Jefferson National Monument was established by Congress in 1935. In 1992, Congress redesignated this area Dry Tortugas National Park. The park’s resources are primarily underwater: within its authorized boundary of 64,700 acres, approximately 97 acres comprise the seven islands known as the Dry Tortugas. The park is sur- rounded by the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary; the U.S. Coast Guard maintains the Loggerhead Key Light. The 2003 organizational chart at Dry Tortugas NP includes two interpretive park rangers, four protection park rangers, five maintenance personnel, one administrative assistant, and one site supervisor. An exhibits specialist and natural resources specialist are also on the park staff, though not duty-stationed at the park. A management assistant, assigned exclusively to Dry Tortugas NP, is on the staff of the superintendent of Everglades NP. This Long-Range Interpretive Plan (LRIP) was created through a goal - driven process that describes desired visitor experiences and recom- mends appropriate means to achieve them while preserving the park’s natural and cultural resources. The LRIP’s first section, on pages 1-49, confirms the foundations of the park and its second section, starting on page 51, recommends actions to be taken over the next 7 to 10 years to upgrade the park’s personal services program and interpretive media. The LRIP’s “Future Interpretive Program” emphasizes: Personal Services: * Add Interpretive staff to allow regularly scheduled programs/services * Initiate a training, certification, and audit program for all ferry concession-provided interpretive services * Develop an education program and a distance learning program Non-Personal Services (Interpretive Media) * Develop a variety of publications ranging from rack cards to sales items * Plan, design, produce wayside exhibits for Dry Tortugas and Key West * Plan, design, produce indoor exhibits for Key West VC & Fort Jeff VC * Plan, design, produce historically furnished areas at Fort Jefferson * Develop a park film for Key West VC and other audiovisual programs * Develop an audio tour and video for all concession service providers As stated on the previous page, the achievement of the LRIP recom- mendations are based on funding and coordination with park partners. v PARK’S LOCATION IN SOUTH FLORIDA vi DRY TORTUGAS NATIONAL PARK vii GMP ALTERNATIVE C (PREFERRED) viii MAPS FROM UNIGRID FOLDER ix TABLE OF CONTENTS Foundation . .1 Enabling Legislation . .2 Purpose . .3 Significance . .4 Mission Goals . .5 Interpretive Themes Tangible/Intangible Concepts . .7 Parkwide Theme Statements . .8 Interpretive Themes for Florida Keys Visitor Center . .10 Visitor Experience . .12 Issues and Influences Servicewide Initiatives . .14 External Influences . .15 Resource Based Issues . .17 Interpretation Issues . .23 Visitor Profiles Visitation Figures . .28 Visitor Studies . .29 Visitor Groups . .32 Existing Conditions Interpretive Facilities . .36 Media Conditions . .40 Interpretive Programs . .48 Future Interpretive Program . 51 Personal Services Future Vision . .52 Proposed Additional Staff . .53 Concession Boats and Seaplanes . .54 Education Program . .55 Special Events . .56 Non-Personal Services Website . .58 Publications . .59 Wayside Exhibits . .65 Exhibits . .68 Historic Furnishings . .85 Audiovisual Programs . .87 Interpretive Themes/Media Matrix . .88 Partnerships . .90 Library Needs . .97 Collection Needs . .98 Research Needs . .104 Staffing Needs . .108 Implementation Plan . .109 Planning Team . .115 Appendices . 117 xii xiii FOUNDATION 1 FOUNDATION: ENABLING LEGISLATION 2 FOUNDATION: PURPOSE Dry Tortugas National Park was established by Public Law 102-525 −− as shown on the previous page −− on October 26, 1992, “to preserve and protect for the education, inspiration, and enjoyment of present and future
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