In 2017, back-to-back hurricanes ravaged Virgin Islands National Park in the Caribbean, destroying structures, docks, and campgrounds. Since then, the National Park Service (NPS) has been trying to restore the facilities in the Caneel Bay area of the park. It’s spent years outlining plans to find a hospitality company or concessionaire willing to take on the lease and all the construction and costs reopening would require.
The NPS recently put out an open call for proposals to lease the land. The document would give the eventual leaseholder carte blanche control over wide swaths of public land, prioritizing the developer’s potential profit over public access.
What Happened
The NPS has been working on finding a new leaseholder for Caneel Bay since 2021. It underwent a 2-year planning period where it offered potential plans, solicited feedback from the public, and conducted environmental assessments. Then in 2023, the agency released a document entitled “Virgin Islands National Park Caneel Bay Area Redevelopment and Management Environmental Assessment,” outlining its intended course of action.
After that, in 2024, the NPS followed standard procedure and invited interested parties to submit evidence that they had the ability to properly restore and manage the area. For no clear discernible reason, it was crickets after the window for submissions closed. The NPS took no additional steps.
Out of nowhere, on May 7, 2026, the NPS released a new document: a request for lease proposals. This is not an official plan like 2023 — it did not undergo public comment or environmental assessment. However, it does outline what the leaseholder would control, and it shows major changes from the prior plan.
2026 vs. 2023
The 2023 plan is very specific in how the land will be used. It outlined the following:
- 67 acres for overnight lodging and amenities, managed by the leaseholder.
- 5 acres as a day-use zone, managed by the NPS with services offered by a concessionaire.
- 78 acres for a conservation zone, managed by the NPS.
- 7 acres for operations and maintenance.
- 11 acres for a cultural and historic interpretive area, managed by the NPS.
- 7 acres of a former landfill, open to leaseholder use.
The 2026 document includes none of this. Rather, it states that “leasehold premises, at a minimum, will consist of approximately 150 acres.” No conservation, day-use, or interpretive zones, which all guarantee public access, are required.
Public access as a whole is another major discrepancy. The 2023 plan called for public day-use access at three popular beaches: Honeymoon, Little Caneel, and Caneel. The 2026 document, meanwhile, only mandates public access for these areas on the foreshore. This is the part of the beach in between the low and high tides, also known as the “wet sand.”
The backshore — the part of the beach where people lay out their towels, set up their chairs, and play beach games with their kids — is not guaranteed to be accessible to the public.
There are also differences when it comes to the fine print on lodging. In 2023, the limit for the operator was 166 guest rooms. There is no maximum in 2026.
Why Does It Matter?
Virgin Islands National Park is a major draw for visitors to the islands. It attracted over 420,000 people in 2024 and 2025, according to NPS data. Caneel Bay is one of the park’s most pristine natural areas, with stunning beaches. The control of the land given to leaseholders will directly affect how people can access this land, and what it might cost for them to do so.
Whoever ultimately obtains the lease may hold it for a maximum of 60 years. Policies and decisions around land use will shape how people can access this public land for decades. The question remains whether the NPS will prioritize developers or the public.
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