Ferry Purchase and Service to Fort Pickens

The Gulf Islands National Seashore Ferry project, proposed by the National Park Service, would fund the purchase of up to three pedestrian visitor ferries for use between the City of Pensacola, Pensacola Beach, and the Fort Pickens area of Gulf Islands National Seashore in Florida.

A viable ferry service to this area of Gulf Islands National Seashore would provide an alternative means of visitor access to the park. A ferry also would allow visitors to access the park if the road to Fort Pickens is made impassable by storms or other unfavorable conditions. The need for an alternate means to access the Fort Pickens area of the park was made apparent when hurricanes and storms in 2004 and 2005 destroyed large segments of the road, eliminating vehicle access through this eight-mile-long area. For five years access to the Fort Pickens area was severely restricted for everyone, especially for those with disabilities, the elderly, and the very young.

This project partially restores the lost visitor use that occurred during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Follow this link to review the draft Programmatic and Phase III Early Restoration Plan and Draft Early Restoration Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement:

http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/restoration/early-restoration/phase-iii/

Follow this link to submit a comment on phase III of Early
Restoration:

http://parkplanning.nps.gov/commentFormbasic.cfm?&documentID=56557

Contact Information

FOR MORE INFORMATION
CONTACT
Mark VanMouwerik
Restoration Project Manager,
National Park Service
mark_vanmouwerik@nps.gov