CWPT Saved Battle Land At 20 Sites In 2009
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Despite last year’s faltering economy, the Civil War Preservation Trust (CWPT) was able to protect 2,777 acres at 20 battlefields in five states, according to the group’s year-end summary. The value of the 2009 transactions totaled more than $38 million. On top of that, spokesman Jim Campi said CWPT got the most individual contributions it has ever received. “Even in this economy, more people were donating to us than ever before,” he said. Looking ahead, CWPT is gearing up for big projects in Virginia and North Carolina, as well as the 1.9-acre purchase recently announced at Gettysburg (see separate story). The biggest challenge this year will be raising $9 million to match the $9 million federal money in the FY2010 budget for battlefield preservation (see December Civil War News). The Civil War Battlefield Preservation Program is financed through the Land and Water Conservation Fund and awarded by the National Park Service’s American Battlefield Protection Program. “That’s the single largest appropriation we’ve ever received from Congress for a single year. That’s huge,” said Campi. “We’re the ones that lobbied for the money and it’s our obligation to come up with that,” he said. “If we can’t, Congress isn’t going to be motivated to appropriate at that level in the future.” At the same time CWPT has to look ahead and has started the process to get additional funding in the FY2011 budget. Campi noted that 2011 is the first year of the Civil War Sesquicentennial. “We’re hoping that the sesquicentennial is going to make historic land preservation more of a priority and that’s been true so far,” he said. It won’t be easy, he noted, because states “are cutting left and right.” CWPT is in touch with people representing sesquicentennial groups who say they are trying to make do with what they have as they lose funding. 2009 Recap In reflecting on 2009, CWPT President James Lighthizer in a press statement said, “We posted one of the most successful years in this organization’s history — including our second-highest-ever tally for acres preserved in a calendar year.” He said, “With 30 acres of Civil War battlefield land lost to development each day … many preservation projects in 2009 took on an added sense of urgency.” That was because the Commonwealth of Virginia approved $5.2 million in matching grants for battlefield preservation, specifying a limited time frame for use of the landmark allocation. CWPT and other preservation groups had to secure $2 from other sources for every dollar they requested from the state. CWPT created a “Virginia Legacy Fund” to meet the match requirements and its members responded. Campi said CWPT is very pleased. “The preservation community in Virginia had a huge challenge matching state funds and succeeded in achieving it.” In addition to land purchases, CWPT donated 176 acres of battlefield to Harpers Ferry National Historical Park. CWPT also participated in the preservation of land at Davis Bridge, Tenn., and Cedar Creek, Va., where the acreage was transferred to a state or national park. The state of Tennessee contributed $864,000 toward acquisition of the Davis Bridge battlefield site. CWPT aims to work in partnership with a wide variety of regional and local preservation groups to purchase significant pieces of land otherwise outside the reach of either independently. Lighthizer pointed to the example of CWPT partnering with the Central Virginia Battlefields Trust in Fredericksburg to protect 93 acres at the Wilderness Battlefield by lending technical expertise to the transaction process, as well as contributing financially. A hallmark of CWPT preservation strategy is working toward reaching a “critical mass” of preservation at individual battlefields and connecting previously protected the parcels into unified entities. The year-end report explained how that worked through the joint effort of CWPT and the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation to protect 209 acres at Third Winchester, creating a 576-acre swath of protected battlefield land. Recent preservation efforts added 11 acres at Glendale and 178 acres at Malvern Hill, an area where CWPT has now protected a total of 1,650 contiguous acres. Almost 900 of those acres have been transferred to Richmond National Battlefield Park. In carrying on its education and advocacy programs last year CWPT hosted two major news conferences with Academy Award-winning actors. Richard Dreyfuss unveiled CWPT’s annual History Under Siege report in March and Robert Duvall called attention to Wal-mart’s plans to build on Virginia’s Wilderness Battlefield in May. The sites protected by CWPT in 2009 are: 55 acres at Natural Bridge in Florida; 60 acres at Wood Lake in Minnesota; 66 acres at Raymond and 12 acres at Tupelo in Mississippi; 643 acres at Davis Bridge and 5 acres at Parkers Crossroads in Tennessee; 68 acres at Aldie, 47 acres at Appomattox Station; Also, 433 acres at Brandy Station, 85 acres at Chancellorsville, 11 acres at Glendale, 178 acres at Malvern Hill, 35 acres at Sailor’s Creek, 730 acres at five Shenandoah Valley battlefields, 253 acres at Trevilian Station and 94 acres at the Wilderness in Virginia. Overall, CWPT has protected more than 29,000 acres of battlefield land at 109 sites in 20 states. Donation and membership information is at www.civilwar.org.
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