Fort Pulaski National Monument National Park Service Georgia U.S. Department of the Interior Final General Management Plan, Wilderness Study, and Environmental Impact Statement June 2013 Front cover photo credits, clockwise from top left:National Park Service; Tammy Herrell; David Libman; David Libman General Management Plan / Wilderness Study / Environmental Impact Statement Fort Pulaski National Monument Chatham County, Georgia SUMMARY President Calvin Coolidge established Fort Lighthouse and the other is known as Pulaski as a national monument by Daymark Island. Finally, in 1996, Congress proclamation on October 15, 1924, under the passed a law that removed the U.S. Army authority of section 2 of the Antiquities Act Corps of Engineers’ reserved right to deposit of 1906. The proclamation declared the dredge spoil on Cockspur Island. entire 20-acre area “comprising the site of the old fortifications which are clearly This General Management Plan / Wilderness defined by ditches and embankments” to be Study / Environmental Impact Statement a national monument. provides comprehensive guidance for perpetuating natural systems, preserving By act of Congress on June 26, 1936 (49 Stat. cultural resources, and providing 1979), the boundaries of Fort Pulaski opportunities for high-quality visitor National Monument were expanded to experiences at Fort Pulaski National include all lands on Cockspur Island, Monument. The purpose of the plan is to Georgia, then or formerly under the decide how the National Park Service can jurisdiction of the secretary of war. The best fulfill the monument’s purpose, legislation also authorized the Secretary of maintain its significance, and protect its the Interior to accept donated lands, resources unimpaired for the enjoyment of easements, and improvements on McQueens present and future generations. It describes and Tybee islands in Chatham County, the overall path that the National Park Georgia, for addition to the national Service would follow in managing the monument. Furthermore, the act directed national monument during the next 20 years the secretary to construct a bridge or or more. causeway across the South Channel Savannah River from Cockspur Island to The document examines three alternatives McQueens Island as part of the road system for managing the national monument for the of Fort Pulaski and provided for land on the next 20 or more years and analyzes the north end of Cockspur Island for the U.S. impacts of implementing each of the Army Corps of Engineers to use for dredge alternatives. Alternative A is the “no-action” spoil and additional land for the U.S. alternative, which describes how the national Department of the Treasury to use as a monument is managed now, providing a quarantine station. basis for comparing the other alternatives. Under alternative B, the NPS preferred Executive Orders 6166 of June 10, 1933, and alternative, Fort Pulaski would be managed 6228 of July 28, 1933, transferred Fort to focus on the April 1862 period of Pulaski and other military parks, battlefields, significance in terms of the landscape and and cemeteries from the War Department to interpretive programs. This alternative the Department of the Interior (National includes landscape restoration and Park Service [NPS]). interpretation of the construction village. Under alternative C, the national monument A presidential proclamation on August 14, would be managed with a much broader 1958, transferred two islands from the U.S. interpretive mandate than in alternative B, to Coast Guard to the National Park Service. include a wider range of themes and historic One contains the Cockspur Island periods as well as natural resource themes. i SUMMARY The key impacts of implementing these received. Following distribution of the final alternatives are summarized in table 7 and plan and a 30-day no-action period, a detailed in chapter 4. “Record of Decision” approving a final plan will be signed by the NPS regional director. This General Management Plan / Wilderness The Record of Decision documents the NPS Study / Environmental Impact Statement selection of an alternative for includes letters from governmental agencies, implementation. With the signed record of any substantive comments on the draft decision, the plan can then be implemented, document, and NPS responses to those depending on funding and staffing. comments. The final plan also includes However, a Record of Decision does not changes and clarifications made to the guarantee funds and staff for implementing document in response to comments the approved plan. AERIAL PHOTO OF FORT PULASKI LOOKING NORTHEAST ii CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: PURPOSE AND NEED FOR THE PLAN 3 INTRODUCTION 3 BACKGROUND 3 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PARK 3 PURPOSE OF THE PLAN 4 NEED FOR THE PLAN 9 Purpose and Need for the Wilderness Study 9 McQueens Island at Lazaretto Creek 10 The Next Steps 11 IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PLAN 11 FOUNDATION STATEMENT 11 Legislative Foundation 12 Purpose 12 Significance 12 Special Mandates and Administrative Commitments 13 Fundamental Resources and Values 14 Other Important Resources and Values 16 Primary Interpretive Themes 17 SERVICEWIDE LAWS AND POLICIES 19 The Georgia Department of Transportation’s U.S. Highway 80 Bridges Replacement Study 20 OTHER PLANNING EFFORTS RELATED TO THIS GENERAL MANAGEMENT PLAN 25 The Georgia Ports Authority’s Savannah Harbor Expansion Project 25 The National Park Service Cultural Landscape Report 26 The Georgia State Historic Preservation Plan 2007–2011 (Building a Preservation Ethic) 26 The Regional Plan of Coastal Georgia 2010 26 Coastal Georgia Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy 2007 27 Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor Management Plan 27 PLANNING ISSUES/CONCERNS 27 DECISION POINTS AND CONSIDERATIONS 28 ISSUES 29 IMPACT TOPICS—RESOURCES AND VALUES AT STAKE IN THE PLANNING PROCESS 30 IMPACT TOPICS TO BE CONSIDERED 30 Cultural Resources 30 Natural Resources 32 Wilderness Resources and Values 33 Visitor Use and Experience 33 Socioeconomic Environment 33 Climate Change 34 Transportation 34 iii CONTENTS Park Operations 34 Energy Requirements, Depletable Resources, and Conservation Potential 34 IMPACT TOPICS CONSIDERED BUT NOT ANALYZED IN DETAIL 34 Air Quality 34 Special Status Species 34 Coastal Zone Management 35 Soundscape 36 Lightscape Management (Dark Night Sky Preservation) 36 Urban Quality and Design of the Built Environment 36 Socially or Economically Disadvantaged Populations 36 Prime and Unique Agricultural Lands 36 Indian Sacred Sites and Indian Trust Resources 37 Public Health and Safety 37 Conformity with Local Land Use Plans 37 CHAPTER 2: ALTERNATIVES, INCLUDING THE PREFERRED ALTERNATIVE 41 MANAGEMENT ZONES AND ALTERNATIVES 41 FORMULATION OF THE ALTERNATIVES 42 IDENTIFICATION OF THE PREFERRED ALTERNATIVE 42 WILDERNESS STUDY 43 Definition of Wilderness 44 Uses and Management in Wilderness 44 Wilderness Eligibility Assessment 46 Options Analyzed in the Wilderness Study 46 Management of Proposed Wilderness 47 USER (CARRYING) CAPACITY 50 MANAGEMENT ZONES FOR FORT PULASKI NATIONAL MONUMENT 53 ACTIONS COMMON TO ALL ALTERNATIVES 57 U.S. Highway 80 Bridges Replacement Study and Project Response 57 Savannah Harbor Response 57 Visitor Center Annex 57 Nonnative Species Management 57 ALTERNATIVE A: THE NO-ACTION ALTERNATIVE 58 Concept 58 Wilderness 58 Natural Resources 58 Cultural Resources 58 Visitor Use and Experience 59 Access 59 Boundary Expansion 59 Interpretation 59 Trails 60 Viewshed and Vistas 60 iv Contents ALTERNATIVE B (NPS PREFERRED ALTERNATIVE) 62 Concept 62 Wilderness 62 Natural Resources 62 Cultural Resources 63 Visitor Use and Experience 63 Access 63 Boundary Expansion 64 Interpretation 64 Trails 64 Viewshed and Vistas 64 ALTERNATIVE C 67 Concept 67 Wilderness 67 Natural Resources 67 Cultural Resources 67 Visitor Use and Experience 67 Access 67 Boundary Expansion 67 Interpretation 67 Trails 68 Viewsheds and Vistas 68 DEVELOPMENT OF COST ESTIMATES 74 Range of Annual Costs 74 Implementation 75 MITIGATIVE MEASURES COMMON TO ALL ACTION ALTERNATIVES 83 Management Strategies to Address Climate Change 83 Strategy 83 Cultural Resources 85 Natural Resources 86 Visitor Safety and Experience 88 Noise Abatement 88 Scenic Resources 88 FUTURE STUDIES AND IMPLEMENTATION PLANS NEEDED 88 ENVIRONMENTALLY PREFERABLE ALTERNATIVE 90 ALTERNATIVES AND ACTIONS CONSIDERED BUT DISMISSED FROM DETAILED EVALUATION 91 Combination of Two Alternatives 91 Remove Fort Pulaski and Surrounding Structures from Floodplains 92 Construct an Observation Tower on Tybee Island 92 Permit After-hours Vehicular Access to the Monument 92 CHAPTER 3: AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT 95 INTRODUCTION 95 v CONTENTS EARLY HISTORY 95 19TH CENTURY HISTORY 95 POST-CIVIL WAR HISTORY 96 THE NATIONAL MONUMENT AND ITS REGIONAL CONTEXT 99 LAND ACQUISITION 100 CULTURAL RESOURCES 101 Background 101 Colonial Sites 101 Archeological Resources 101 Museum Collections 103 Historic Structures 104 Ethnographic Resources 108 Cultural Landscapes 108 NATIONAL PARK SERVICE MANAGEMENT OF FORT PULASKI NATIONAL MONUMENT 109 OTHER INFLUENCES ON COCKSPUR ISLAND 110 NATURAL RESOURCES 111 Climate 111 Soils and Geologic Resources 112 Plant Communities and Vegetation 112 Wildlife 116 Aquatic Vegetation 117 Finfish Species 117 Shellfish 118 Reptiles and Amphibians 118 Benthic Invertebrates 118 Marine Mammals 118 Special Status Species 119 Species Listed by the State of Georgia 121 Water Quality 123 Floodplains 125 Shoreline Erosion 125 Wetlands 125 Tidal Influences 126 Wilderness Resources