The seashore shall be administered, protected, and developed in accordance with the provisions of the Act of August 25, 1916 (39 Stat. 535; 16 U.S.C. 1, 2–4),[1] as amended and supplemented, except that any other statutory authority available to the Secretary for the conservation and management of natural resources may be utilized to the extent he finds such authority will further the purposes of sections 459i to 459i–9 of this title.

Except for certain portions of the seashore deemed to be especially adaptable for recreational uses, particularly swimming, boating, fishing, hiking, horseback riding, and other recreational activities of similar nature, which shall be developed for such uses as needed, the seashore shall be permanently preserved in its primitive state, and, except as provided in subsection (c), no development of the project or plan for the convenience of visitors shall be undertaken which would be incompatible with the preservation of the unique flora and fauna or the physiographic conditions now prevailing, nor shall any road or causeway connecting Cumberland Island to the mainland be constructed.

Notwithstanding subsection (b), the Secretary may enter into not more than 3 concession contracts, as the Secretary determines appropriate, for the provision of tours for visitors to the seashore that are consistent with—

(1) sections 459i to 459i–9 of this title;

(2) the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.); and

(3) Public Law 97–250 (96 Stat. 709).

(Pub. L. 92–536, § 6, Oct. 23, 1972, 86 Stat. 1068; Pub. L. 108–447, div. E, title I, § 145(b), Dec. 8, 2004, 118 Stat. 3073; Pub. L. 114–289, title VI, § 601(c), Dec. 16, 2016, 130 Stat. 1491.)