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A proposed land swap on Cumberland Island, Georgia, by the National Park Service has sparked a fierce debate among conservationists, park officials, and descendants of the wealthy Gilded Age industrialist Thomas Carnegie. The 18-mile barrier island, managed by the park service since 1972, features federally protected wilderness alongside historical ruins and private properties owned by the Carnegie family.
The Proposed Land Swap
Park superintendent Melissa Trenchik has defended the plan, which would transfer current parkland on the island’s west side to two branches of Carnegie descendants to construct up to eight new private homes. Trenchik explained to Georgia Public Broadcasting’s Jillian Magtoto that the goal is to consolidate private ownership on the west side so the park can better protect natural and cultural resources on the Atlantic beachside, where development would be prohibited.
According to Trenchik, development is legally possible on the private lands the park service aims to acquire if no action is taken. She noted that the new homes would face permanent conservation limits and a maximum height of 35 feet. However, critics argue that the 15,000-square-foot allowance, which includes driveways and outbuildings, is excessive. Joseph Manning, an attorney with Defenders of Wildlife, criticized the arrangement, stating, “We’re swapping for McMansions.”
Manning compared this deal to other administration-backed land exchanges and argued that these actions benefit special interests or specific families rather than expanding public access.
Carnegie Family Legacy and Defense
Barclay McFadden, a great-great-grandson of Thomas Carnegie, rejected the criticism surrounding the family’s history on the island. “The hysteria about mansions and the Gilded Age and all that is so unfounded,” McFadden said, adding that five generations of his family have been buried in a local cemetery and that the island is a sacred place for their children and grandchildren.
McFadden stated that the land swap provides necessary homes for younger generations and emphasized his family’s stewardship, noting that previous generations declined offers to turn the property into a golf course in the 1970s. His cousin Jamie Ferguson, co-owner of the island’s Greyfield Inn bed and breakfast, expressed trust in his family’s commitment to protecting the island.
Ferguson highlighted that the swap could offer greater visitor access to “The Chimneys,” a historical site featuring brick and tabby chimneys where enslaved people lived on a pre-Carnegie cotton plantation. “Like it or not, we’re part of that cultural history,” Ferguson said.
Opposition from Ecologists and Conservationists
Longtime resident and naturalist Carol Ruckdeschel, who has lived on Cumberland Island for over 50 years, strongly opposes the land swap. At 85, she continues to survey beaches weekly for sea turtle nests and worries the plan is a step toward increased development.
Ruckdeschel, who is associated with the conservation group Wild Cumberland, called the plan an affront to the public and the Park Service. She also voiced concern over park service plans to double daily visitation to 700 people, arguing that additional homes and visitors will disrupt the primitive wilderness where nature reclaims human remnants. “And then people die out, places go back to nature and that’s it,” she said.
