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Virgin Islands National Park Studying Land Swap For School

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By Compiled From N... - March 29th, 2022

A potential land swap would gain Virgin Islands National Park an island while the US Virgin Islands would gain acreage for a school on St. John/NPS

A need for more educational facilities on the island of St. John has the National Park Service contemplating a land swap with the Territorial government of the U.S. Virgin Islands (GVI) that would gain Virgin Islands National Park an 18-acre island.

In exchange, the park would relinquish a roughly 11-acre tract of land at the Catherineberg Estate, an 18th-century sugar cane plantation that used slaves to tend the cane fields and work to distill rum. In Whistling Cay the park would receive an island that is primarily undeveloped and covered by tropical forest.

The Park Service is taking public comment on the proposed swap through April 27. In addition, on April 6 the park staff will hold a virtual event to discuss the proposal. A formal review of the proposal is necessary, in part, because the Park Service has no legal authority to donate the land.

The project is needed, according to a park release, because the government of the Virgin Islands has determined that public education on St. John is lacking and is currently only available through the eighth grade. To complete a public high school education, students must commute by boat each day or relocate to St. Thomas during the school year.

For nearly three decades, the GVI and the US government have discussed approaches to expanding education on St. John. Steps taken between 2012-2014 identified the 11-acre park parcel within the Catherineberg Estate as a possible location to support the island’s education needs. In November 2019, U.S. Virgin Islands Albert Bryan, Jr. offered the small island of Whistling Cay for consideration in an exchange, reenergizing negotiations. 

According to appraisers, the Catherineberg tract is worth about $1.23 million, and Whistling Cay about $1.44 million.

You can learn more about the potential swap and leave your comments at this site.

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