GULF BREEZE, Fla. - Gulf Islands National Seashore Acting Superintendent Steve McCoy has released the annual Superintendent’s Compendium for 2021. The compendium is a comprehensive listing of how federal regulations and policies are implemented at the national seashore. Each year, the park management team reviews the compendium and makes changes based on changing conditions, operations, resource issues and community and visitor comments received throughout the year.
In addition to minor clarifications, this year’s edition of the compendium includes several changes:
In Mississippi and Florida:
* Designated temporarily and administratively closed areas in the park are not available for First Amendment assemblies and meetings.
* The following locations within the Seashore, unless temporarily closed due to COVID-19 adaptive management or storm damage, are available for First Amendment activities such as the sale or distribution of printed matter. Groups of 25 people do not need a permit. Groups of 26 or higher need a permit.
** Naval Live Oaks south, day use parking lot (east of the headquarters parking lot). Group size of 50 people.
** Florida District Recreational Beaches. A recreational beach is considered 1/8 mile east and a 1/8 mile west of the center of the boardwalk or 1/8 mile east and a 1/8 mile west of the center of the parking lot.
1. Hwy 399, J. Earle Bowden Pkwy Recreational Beach Areas include: Gulf Side, Parking Lots 1, 7, and 8 (AKA: Beach access 36A, 33A, 32A)
2. The Opal beach cluster complex which consists of parking lot 2,3,4,5 (AKA: Beach Access 34A, B, D, E) and the sound side of parking lot (34C).
3. Ft. Pickens Gulf side Parking Lots 21 and 22 (Beach Access 17A, 19A)
4. Langdon Beach
* Mississippi District Visitor Center South Parking lot. Group size of 50 people.
* Ship Island Recreational Beach Gulf side accessed from the boardwalk crossover.
In Mississippi:
* Ship Island buildings, structures and Fort Massachusetts are closed from Nov. 1 to Feb. 28, with an extension to Feb. 29 in a Leap Year.
* Fishing using bow and/or arrow, pole spears, spear guns, Hawaiian slings or any other projectile device is prohibited in all the waters of the Seashore.
* The Davis Bayou boat ramp finger piers and the Ship Island (formerly known as West Ship and East Ship Islands) pier are closed to fishing and netting.
* Collecting driftwood for use as fuel for campfires is prohibited on Cat, Petit Bois, Horn, Ship and West Petit Bois Islands.
* Campfires are prohibited on all Gulf Island NS beaches, sound side and Gulf of Mexico side at Cat, Petit Bois, Horn, Ship and West Petit Bois Islands.
In Florida:
* Commercial vehicles and oversized vehicles (RVs, motorhomes, trailers of any kind, buses, etc.) are prohibited on J. Earle Bowden Pkwy (Hwy 399 between Pensacola Beach and Navarre Beach). Passenger vehicles only.
* Fishing using bow and/or arrow, pole spears, spear guns, Hawaiian slings or any other projectile device is prohibited in all the waters of the Seashore.
* Campfires are prohibited on all Gulf Islands National Seashore beaches including sound, bay, and Gulf side at Perdido Key, Fort Pickens, Santa Rosa, Naval Live Oaks and Okaloosa areas.
* Collecting driftwood for use as fuel for campfires is prohibited.
The Superintendent’s Compendium is available online at https://www.nps.gov/guis/learn/management/lawsandpolicies.htm.
Current closure information: www.nps.gov/guis/planyourvisit/tempclosures.htm. www.nps.gov About Gulf Islands National Seashore: Created in 1971, the national seashore stretches 160 miles along the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico in Florida and Mississippi, and includes barrier islands, maritime forests, historic forts, bayous, and marine habitat. Visit us at www.nps.gov/GulfIslands, on Facebook www.facebook.com/GulfIslandsNPS, Twitter www.twitter.com/GulfIslandsNPS, and Instagram www.Instagram.com/GulfIslandsNPS.
About the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America’s 423 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Learn more at www.nps.gov, and on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
