News Release

National Park Service extends public comment period for St. John Land Exchange through June 9, 2023.

Whistling Cay and Mary Point photographed from St. John.

NPS photo/ K. Boulon

News Release Date: April 27, 2023 ST. JOHN, U.S. Virgin Islands – Today, the National Park Service (NPS) released responses to the 400 comments received during the recent public comment period pertaining to a Notice of Realty Action (NORA). The NORA for the St. John Land Exchange was first announced in December, and comments were accepted through March 15, 2023. Due to the high level of interest on the future of a new public school on St. John, the NPS is offering an additional 45-day comment period which posted today on the Federal Register. Today’s NORA on the Federal Register is the same notice from December. Those who submitted comments previously are not being asked to resubmit, as those comments have been heard and considered. This notice extends the comment period to allow others who’ve not yet commented to do so by June 9, 2023.

While there is broad support for a new public school, multiple commenters have expressed a desire for a land donation rather than an exchange. Federal Law (54 U.S.C. §102901) prohibits conveyance of property from National Parks yet authorizes exchanges of land within the boundaries of parks. Along with the Federal Register notice, the NPS is providing notification to Congress as required for any exchange where parcel values exceed one million dollars. An undeveloped 11-acre parcel of centrally located land in the Catherineberg area of St. John has been identified by the Government of the Virgin Islands as the preferred location for a new public school. The parcel is appraised at $1.2M. The Government of the U.S. Virgin Islands (GVI) offered the uninhabited island of Whistling Cay for exchange, which is appraised at $1.4M. The exchange would include a cash payment from NPS to GVI to equalize the values as required by NPS policy for an equitable exchange.

For decades, the GVI and NPS have discussed ways to provide a 12th grade public education for youth on St. John. To attain a public high school diploma, St. John students must commute to St. Thomas beginning in the 9th grade. In 2017, Hurricanes Irma and Maria severely damaged the Julius E. Sprauve School, the only public elementary and middle school on St. John. With funding expected from FEMA for rebuilding, the GVI expressed an urgent need to relaunch the land exchange process in 2019. A preliminary exchange agreement was signed in 2020, followed by an Environmental Assessment in 2022.

The Response to Public Comments Document and the Federal Register NORA are both available on the NPS Planning, Environment and Public Comment (PEPC) site: https://parkplanning.nps.gov/StJohnLandExchange A printed copy of the documents is available for viewing at the Virgin Islands National Park Visitor Center, Monday-Friday 8:15am-1:30pm.