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Aerial View of Fort Pulaski

Fort Pulaski National Monument General Management Plan

Fort Pulaski National Monument » Fort Pulaski National Monument General Management Plan » Document List

President Calvin Coolidge established Fort Pulaski as a National Monument by proclamation on October 15, 1924 under the authority of Section 2 of the Antiquities Act of 1906. The proclamation declared the entire 20-acre area "comprising the site of the old fortifications which are clearly defined by ditches and embankments" to be a National Monument.
The Act of June 26, 1936 (49 Stat. 1979) expanded the boundaries of Fort Pulaski to include all lands on Cockspur Island, Georgia then or formerly under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of War. The legislation also authorized the Secretary of the Interior to accept donated lands, easements and improvements located on McQueens and Tybee Islands in Chatham County, Georgia for addition to the National Monument. Furthermore, the Act directed the Secretary to construct a bridge or causeway across the south channel of the Savannah River from Cockspur Island to McQueens Island as part of the road system of Fort Pulaski and provided for land on the north end of Cockspur Island for the Corps of Engineers to use for dredge spoil and additional land for the Treasury Department to use as a quarantine station.
Executive Orders No. 6166 of June 10, 1933 and No. 6228 of July 28 1933 (President Franklin D. Roosevelt) transferred Fort Pulaski (and other military parks, battlefields, and cemeteries)from the War Department to the Interior Department (NPS).
A Presidential proclamation on August 14, 1958 transferred two islands from the U. S. Coast Guard to the National Park Service. One contains the Cockspur Island Lighthouse and the other is known as Daymark Island. Finally, in 1996 Congress passed a law that removed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reserved right to deposit dredge spoil on Cockspur Island.

The development of a general management plan for Fort Pulaski will lay a foundation for the long term direction of the national monument. A general management plan (GMP) provides a vision for the future of a park and a practical framework for decision making. It represents the broadest level of planning conducted by the National Park Service.

The intention of a GMP is to provide guidance for making informed decisions about the future of the park and specify resource conditions and visitor experiences to be achieved. A GMP provides guidance on how to best protect park resources, how to provide for quality visitor experiences, and how to manage visitation and visitor use. It involves identifying goals based on the legislative intent of the park, analyzing existing conditions and future possibilities, and determining the best course of action to accomplish these goals. A GMP does not include facility design, resolve all issues, or guarantee funding for the park. Rather, it describes the general path the National Park Service intends to follow in managing sites such as Fort Pulaski National Monument over a 15 to 20 year period. To comply with the National Environmental Policy Act, an environmental impact statement (EIS) will be prepared concurrently with the GMP. The GMP and EIS will identify significant issues and concerns facing management of the park, present a reasonable range of management alternatives, and analyze the effects of the alternatives. Public involvement is a key component in the preparation of the GMP and EIS.

Contact Information

David Libman
Project Leader
National Park Service
Southeast Region
100 Alabama Street, 1924 Bldg.
Atlanta, GA 30303
404-507-5701
david_libman@nps.gov