The Cumberland Island Museum is donating its entire collection to further knowledge of the ecology of Georgia’s largest barrier island.

The museum, incorporated as a nonprofit in 1985, houses a collection of thousands of items including marine and terrestrial mammals, fish, birds, mollusks, reptiles, and amphibians, as well as flora collected on the island.

“My hope is that these items will be reunited with the remainder of the collection that is already housed at the University of Georgia,” said Carol Ruckdeschel, the museum’s founder, who began collecting in the mid-1960s when she started visiting Cumberland Island as a Georgia State University student.

The collection expanded dramatically after Ruckdeschel moved to the island permanently in 1973.

Over the years, the museum has been used for scholarly research including research projects to tag sea turtles to track migratory patterns and monitor alligator and eagle nests.

Since 1990, the museum has published a quarterly newsletter summarizing Ruckdeschel’s latest findings and observations.

Big changes could be in the offing for Cumberland Island. The National Park Service (NPS) released a visitation plan two years ago that could double daily visitation to the island – accessible only by boat – from the current limit of 300 that dates back to 1984.

This fall, the NPS proposed four land exchanges at the Cumberland Island National Seashore the agency says would protect important parcels now privately owned from development.

Both plans have drawn opposition from environmental advocates worried they could threaten the island’s pristine character.

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