US Virgin Islands National Park access threatened

Maho Bay (Photo: maho.org)

by Susan Mann
Caribbean Net News Correspondent

Monday, October 24, 2005

ST THOMAS, USVI:  Friends of Virgin Islands National Park (FVINP) president, Joe Kessler has released information on the organization's web site, detailing a 441 acre land deal involving, "...stretches from Maho Bay beach to Centerline Road, Mamey Peak and Ajax Peak." 

Kessler states, "... potential buyers are in 'secret negotiations' with the heirs of the land's original owners and are, at the same time, trying to force the National Park Service to sell its share of the property in return for the designation of 80 acres as a conservation area."

The president of the 3,000-member group, with members each state of the union and a dozen foreign countries, went on to say, "The developer is also planning to divert North Shore Road in such a way as to make Maho Bay beach access more difficult and to build a private dock at Maho."

The potential buyers have been identified by FVINP as James and Marilyn Simons, of New York City. They are sponsors of the charitable, Simons Foundation, a non-profit organization chartered with the state of Delaware. According to Kessler, 44 acres would be allocated for the present Maho Bay Institute as a "think tank", 42 acres for the heirs' residential sites, and 89 acres for the family compound and (presumably) other residential sites.

Kessler pointed out that Maho Beach is the most accessible beach on St. John for both visitors and island residents with disabilities. People can be transported to within about 20 feet of the water and the beach, as well as the submerged, relatively flat land.

Recent tourism publications have highlighted the accessibility of the Maho Bay area for visitors with mobility disabilities. The area serves as a model, new initiative for the disabled, according to information released by USVI Tourism officials at the current, International, Caribbean Tourism Conference.

The developer also wants the right to clean and drain the wetlands area in Maho Bay, and open a permanent waterway. Kessler says the wetland area has kept Maho Bay clean for the last 50 years, and to do so would "environmentally devastate Maho Bay."

The organization's president released the following statement to Caribbean Net News, "The Jackson Hole Preserve (Laurence Rockefeller's Foundation) was donated to the US Government specifically for the establishment of Virgin Islands National Park," and "Furthermore, within the transfer deed was a 'reversion clause' which basically states that should the land donated by JHP no longer be used as a national park, the land reverts to JHP." 

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