Fort Pulaski National Monument - Nature and Science

Fort Pulaski National Monument is located in Chatham County, Georgia along the Savannah River only a few miles from its junction with the Atlantic Ocean. With the exception of approximately 250 acres on Cockspur Island and 200 acres on McQueens Island, the 5400 acre Monument consists of tidal marshes and mud flats that are subject to daily inundation of a six to ten foot tide. These two islands that make up the site were, before human intervention, primarily salt marsh. Judging from the composition of existing vegetation, Cockspur Island probably supported some coastal hammock forest or woodland. McQueens Island makes up the largest portion of land holdings for the Monument (about 4,900 acres) and the majority of this consists of salt marsh.

The site was selected for fortification as early as the seventeen hundreds. In the eighteen hundreds, as part of the development of the site for defense, the island was modified by the installation of drainage canals and a dike system. Located on the North Channel of the Savannah River, the primary shipping channel for the port of Savannah, in latter years the site was also impacted by the deposition of spoil material. The addition of dredge material from the Savannah River to Cockspur Island has continued until recently. During the civil war period, the vegetation was removed to enhance visibility and kept in early successional stages. Since the abandonment of the fort in the late eighteen hundreds, a large portion of central Cockspur Island has reverted to maritime forest. Currently the upland portions of Cockspur (approximately 260 acres) support a mosaic of maritime forest, maritime shrub communities, maintained grasslands and successional spoil deposit areas. It also includes over 340 acres of tidal shrubland and tidal herbaceous marsh. The island offers a particularly good opportunity to study the effects of man's influence on the marsh. For instance, there is an obvious difference in vegetation between the area enclosed by the man-made dikes and the marsh outside. Dredge spoil accretion, ships' wakes, and tidal action has caused changes in the shoreline through time.

Prevailing winds are from the northeast in the winter and from the southwest the rest of the year. Humidity averages 75% throughout the year and the temperature averages 60 degrees. Temperatures range from 100 degrees in summer to 20 degrees in winter.