We have some good news to share—and your voices helped make it happen!
A proposed commercial space launch site that would have been located less than five miles from the Cumberland Island National Seashore and Wilderness in southern Georgia has been scrapped by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp. On May 13, Gov. Kemp signed a law that dissolves the Camden County Spaceport Authority, putting an end to the controversial spaceport.
Wilderness Watch has worked to protect the Cumberland Island Wilderness from numerous threats over the years, including the spaceport, which would have launched commercial rockets over the Wilderness. Cumberland is the largest barrier island Wilderness in the East and a designated international biosphere reserve. Places like Cumberland Island, especially on the densely populated and developed East Coast, are priceless.
The Federal Aviation Administration’s preferred alternative in its environmental analysis allowed for 36 tests and 12 commercial rocket launches every year over Cumberland Island’s north end—the location of the Cumberland Island Wilderness. The launches would have shattered the area’s natural sounds, created major safety concerns from rocket fuel and ignited debris falling from exploding rockets, could have forced the National Park Service to close and evacuate the Wilderness and national seashore multiple times per year, and would have stressed native wildlife—including threatened and endangered species.
The extraordinary efforts of Wild Cumberland and local activists, coupled with more than 50,000 emails sent by Wilderness Watch members and supporters urging decision-makers to reject Camden County’s ill-advised spaceport, helped make it happen. And Camden County voters, in a 2022 voter referendum, also resoundingly rejected Camden County purchasing the land needed to build Spaceport Camden.
Thank you for taking action for this seashore Wilderness. We’re grateful that the Cumberland Island Wilderness won’t be subjected to the intrusion, noise, trash, and other harmful impacts posed by a commercial spaceport. |
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Want to learn more about Cumberland Island's Wilderness history and current issues facing the national seashore? Listen to this podcast featuring Wilderness Watch's George Nickas and Wild Cumberland's Jessica Howell-Edwards. |
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Help us protect Cumberland Island and Wilderness around the country. A generous member has pledged to DOUBLE all first-time donations up to $30,000 this year. |
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