The dream of trading a Virgin Islands cay for land on St. John to build a new school is likely a distant one, but it's not impossible, according to a mainland spokesman for the National Park Service.
V.I. National Park Supt. Russell Berry Jr. has reportedly gotten signals from the Department of the Interior that such a deal is possible. But spokesman Paul Weineger in the NPS regional office in Atlanta says parkland trades don't happen often.
And long before one does, he said, the move much be approved at the regional office, Park Service headquarters in Washington, D.C., and sometimes Interior.
"It's an idea that has to be explored," Weineger said, "but it's do-able. There's precedence for such a land exchange." But, he said, it's not done often and not undertaken lightly.
A recent article in a local print newspaper said Berry described the proposal at a May 23 meeting in Cruz Bay of the Environmental Heritage Center. Weineger indicated surprise when queried by a Source reporter about the prospect of a St. John land swap.
St. John administrator Julien Harley, who attended the May 23 meeting, said the proposal is still in its preformative stage and may not have come to the attention of Atlanta yet. "I don't have anything concrete to tell you about it," he said.
The push to free some parkland to build a new public school has been raised before by Sen. Almando "Rocky" Liburd, who once taught at the Julius E. Sprauve School. He said he was among a small group of local officials who raised the subject to Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt and Alaska Congressman Don Young during their recent visits to the territory.
Liburd said the current proposal calls for exchanging five acres of land near the entrance to the park at Catherineberg for an offshore Virgin Islands cay of similar acreage. "There are some cays the government doesn't deal with, and they would be better protected under the park's jurisdiction," he said.
Over the years, school officials and island administrators have discussed the possibility of moving Sprauve School outside of dusty, noisy Cruz Bay and turning the school buildings into a one-stop complex of government agencies. If the proposal is vigorously pushed, Liburd said, the first step — acquiring the land in Catherineberg — could be achieved within two years.
In fact, he said, "I don't think it would take long. It would be a matter of getting the people together." He said President Clinton and Babbitt "want to make it part of their legacy" as the president's second term comes to an end.
But first, Weineger said, NPS officials have to decide if trading land is "something they would want to do." The park superintendent would have to submit a formal recommendation, he said. Then, if the recommendation received all the required approvals, two suitable land parcels would have to be identified and assessed for natural resources and hidden artifacts. After that, a preliminary exchange agreement would have to be signed between the park service and the V.I. government.
So far, there has been only preliminary correspondence. In February, Liburd asked Education Commissioner Ruby Simmonds to write to Washington about any plans to build a new public school on St. John, and how the Catherineberg land would be used if it were to become available.
Harley said he is trying to confirm whether a letter was sent to Berry saying federal officials were willing at least to discuss the possibility.