The popular National Park Service Buck Island lecture series returns Thursday with a talk examining the more than 30 year history of the NPS concessions program at Buck Island Reef National Monument.

The Park Service depends on private business to manage visitor access to Buck Island’s beaches and reefs. The lecture, titled "How Do We Get There? The Concessions Program at Buck Island Reef NM," will include analysis of historical trends of tourism on St. Croix, according to the NPS.

Buck Island Reef is one of the few parks where tour concessions operated by local private businesses convey the majority of its visitors. Susan Duke, concessions specialist for Buck Island Reef National Monument, will talk about the development of the program and illustrate history of some of the island’s ambassadors and their boats.

The lecture will take place from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the Danish Guinea West India Company Warehouse/ Slave Market Building.

The Christiansted National Historic Site parking lot will be free and open for this event until 7 p.m.

The lecture series began in 2012 as part of its celebration of the 50th anniversary of Buck Island being designated a national monument. The informative lectures on topics from history to botany are held every second Thursday of each month. Over the past year, lecturers have expounded on the ups and downs of Buck Island’s coral health; the rare and unknown of Buck Island’s marine life; restoring Buck Island’s plants and animals, and many other topics.