As if there were not enough reasons already to visit the US Virgin Islands, Representative Donna Christensen is sponsoring a bill (HR 580) to turn a 2,900-acre estate and cattle breeding ranch on the island of St. Croix into a national historic site.
Castle Nugent borders the southern coast of St. Croix, about three miles from Christensted National Historic Site to the north. It’s actually a combination of several plantations that once produced cotton, sugar, and indigo as well as cattle.
The house on the central 1,400-acre estate dates back to the Danish colonial era of the late 1700s and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, while the grounds include preserved archaeological remains of the indigenous Taino people, pre-Columbian inhabitants of several Caribbean islands.
The grounds and coastline offer some important natural habitat as well. Great Pond Bay, a fringe reef-protected lagoon that attracts many birds, contains the most substantial black mangrove stand left in the Virgin Islands. The proposed national park will include submerged land out to the three-mile territorial limit, protecting the largest coastal fringe reef in the territory.
Castle Nugent is one of the last working cattle ranches on St. Croix, and one of the ranches instrumental in the development of Senepol cattle, beef cattle with a solid rust-colored coat. Created by crossing Senegal’s N’Dama breed with Red Poll cattle, Senepol cattle are tolerant of the island’s high temperatures, and are particularly gentle and mild-tempered. Should the land become a national park, the University of the Virgin Islands may lease acreage within the site from the National Park Service (NPS) to support ongoing scientific research on the cattle breed.
The project came to the attention of the park service because of threats to the pristine land. “If the lands within the Castle Nugent Farms study area are not included as part of the establishment of a national park unit, then it appears that the most likely future use of the land would be for the purpose of commercial and residential development,” the NPS study states. In particular, it cites plans for the Wyndham St. Croix Golf Resort & Casino on adjacent land, a project that could have a deleterious effect on Great Pond Bay.
Christensen has worked for nearly six years to gain federal protection for Castle Nugent. She first proposed legislation in 2006 to authorize the Department of the Interior to complete a feasibility study to determine Castle Nugent’s suitability as a national park. Congress authorized this study on October 11, 2006.
The study, completed in 2010, states that “The NPS has found that the site meets established criteria for inclusion in the National Park System, and that the potential inclusion of the area to the National Park System enjoys strong local support.”
A new bill to authorize purchase of the land to make the site a national park passed in the House on January 27, 2010, but has not come up for a Senate vote. Republicans largely voted no on the bill, calling it “too expensive” and a “threat to private property rights.”
The park service estimates annual operating costs of the historic site at $800,000-$1,500,000. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) provided a cost estimate to the House Committee on Natural Resources that the implementation would require $26 million over five years, including the acquisition of the privately owned land involved in the transaction. The rest of the land—about half of the 2,900 acres—is publicly held and would most likely be donated to the park service, according to the report. “Enacting HR 3726 would have not effect on direct spending or revenues,” the report concludes.
The CBO report mentions that the value of the property is “no more than $50 million,” a figure seized and quoted by conservative bloggers as the cost of the land acquisition. No official report suggests that the acquisition would cost $50 million.
Democrats, led by Christensen and Natural Resources Chairman Nick Rahall, countered by pointing out that the measure included “no direct spending and land acquisition that would be subject to appropriations.” Christensen worked to bring the bill back for a second vote, but is so far unsuccessful.
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