2 groups have it in their care
National park in Georgia, 36,415 acres, managed by the National Park Service, designated in 1972.
The defenders
2 groups are on the record for Cumberland Island, each tied to it by a source our editors read, in the order they carry the weight. Give directly; nothing routes through us.
On the ground
Watchdog · Scottdale, GA
Opposes all four proposed land exchanges, saying maps, acreage and valuations have never been disclosed and the homesites sit next to Wilderness and Potential Wilderness; held a September 30, 2026 virtual town hall ahead of the October 16 comment deadline
Also in the fight
Legal · Missoula, MT
Its October 9, 2026 action alert asks readers to tell the Park Service “No land exchanges on Cumberland Island!” by the October 16 comment deadline
13 staff + 10 volunteers92¢ to the workFounded 1989
The situation
Georgia’s largest barrier island, a wild expanse of maritime forest, wild horses, and undeveloped beach reachable only by boat. In 2026 the Park Service began negotiating land exchanges with private inholders that would allow up to 15,000 square feet of new development per parcel, potentially eight or more large homes on protected land. Nine conservation groups are demanding congressional oversight after FOIA’d emails revealed two preliminary agreements already reached, warning the deals could quietly privatize the interior of one of the last undeveloped barrier islands on the Atlantic coast.
Source: The Current / GPB · June 9, 2026
Your move
Their own site; they take gifts directly. Your dollar never passes through us.
Their site ↗SpeakCall your representativesA ready call script on Cumberland Island, plus any comment window as it opens.
Public Lands Action NetworkFollowWatch the mapEvery threatened place in the country, tracked, with who stands for each.
Threatened Lands MapBuild my lineup around Cumberland Island: the leading group here opens it, and the other seats fill from this record.
The work is theirs. The backing is yours.
