THE GULF ISLANDS NATIONAL SEASHORE

The Gulf Islands National Seashore (GUIS) lies along the Mississippi and northwestern Florida coast (Figure 1). The Gulf Islands consist of seven barriers, five in Mississippi (Cat Island, East and West Ship Island, Horn Island, and Petit Bois Island) and two in Florida (Perdido Key and Santa Rosa Island) making it the nation's largest national seashore, spanning over 150 miles (240 km) of the Gulf of Mexico. The Mississippi islands lie 7 to 15 miles (11-24 km) off the mainland coast separating Mississippi Sound from the Gulf of Mexico, and are only accessible by boat. Civil War-Era Fort Massachusetts is located on West Ship Island and is a primary cultural resource preservation concern. The barriers of the National Seashore in Florida lie much closer to the mainland and are accessible by car. The Gulf Islands in Florida have historically been more stable than their Mississippi counterpart with respect to shoreline position. However, during Hurricane Frederic in 1979 the entire national seashore on Perdido Key was overwashed and flooded, and more than 90% of Santa Rosa Island was submerged as a result of the 12-14 ft (~ 4 m) storm surge (Doyle and others, 1984). Again, in 1995 Santa Rosa Island was almost entirely overwashed by Hurricane Opal which made landfall just east of Pensacola Beach. Opal removed dunes as high as 5 meters, leaving Santa Rosa Island more susceptible to future storms and erosion.