Notice of Realty Action for the Proposed Exchange of federally-owned land for territorially-owned land located on the Island of St. John (Cruz Bay Quarter), United States Virgin Islands.
I. The National Park Service has identified a federally-owned parcel of land to be suitable for disposal by exchange. The authority for this exchange is the Act of July 15, 1968 (54 U.S.C. §102901) and Title 31 V.I. Code § 231a, referred to and cited as the Virgin Islands School Land Exchange Act.
The selected Federal land to be exchanged is within the boundary of the Virgin Islands National Park, but is not essential for administration of the park unit. The land was surveyed during a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)/ Environmental Assessment process for cultural resources and endangered and threatened species.
Fee ownership to the federally-owned-land to be exchanged is described as follows: VIIS 01-137A is an 11.3-acre parcel of land acquired by the United States of America by deed recorded in Deed Book 9-X on Page 266 at the District of St. Thomas, St. John Island Clerk’s Office. The land is being acquired in fee simple with restrictive covenants mandated by both the legislative authority mentioned above and a Preliminary Exchange Agreement.
Conveyance of the land by the United States of America will be executed by a Quitclaim Deed.
II. In exchange for the federally owned parcel of land identified in Paragraph I, the United States of America will acquire a 17.97-acre parcel of land currently owned by The Territorial Government of the U.S. Virgin Islands lying within the boundary of the Virgin Islands National Park. The land is being acquired in fee simple with a discretionary reverter mandated by both the legislative authority mentioned above and the subsequent Preliminary Exchange Agreement.
The land value of each land to be exchanged shall be determined by current fair market value appraisals and if such values are not appropriately equal, the values shall be equalized by payment of cash as circumstances require.
Detailed information concerning this exchange including precise legal descriptions, Land Protection Plan, and environmental assessment are available at the Land Resources Program Office - National Park Service, 2975 Horseshoe Dr. S., Suite 800, Naples, Florida 34104. The documents specific to the Environmental Assessment/NEPA requirements and the Finding of No Significant Impact are located as follows: https://parkplanning.nps.gov/StJohnLandExchange.
For a period of 45 calendar days from the date of this notice, interested parties may submit comments to the above address. Adverse comments will be evaluated, and this action may be modified or vacated accordingly. In the absence of any action to modify or vacate, this realty action will become the final determination of the Department of Interior.
