Civil War Preservation Trust Invites 'Endangered' Nominations
August 2002

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Civil War Preservation Trust (CWPT), the nation's largest nonprofit battlefield preservation organization, is accepting nominations for its America's Most Endangered Battlefields Report. The annual report identifies the 10 most threatened Civil War sites in the United States and what can be done to save these links to our nation's past.

"The most effective preservation tool in our arsenal is public awareness," noted CWPT President James Lighthizer. "The Most Endangered Battlefields Report is a rallying cry to the nation that our hallowed battlefields are in imminent danger."

The Most Endangered Battlefields Report is part of CWPT's ongoing effort to preserve and protect America's remaining Civil War battlefields. Nearly 20 percent of the Civil War battlefields have already succumbed to the backhoe and bulldozer.

The 2003 Most Endangered Battlefields Report is scheduled to be released this coming February at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Any Civil War battlefield is eligible to be nominated.

The 10 sites to be highlighted in the study will be selected based on geographic location, military significance, and the immediacy of current threats.

"The task of monitoring the 10,000-plus battlefields where the Civil War was fought is enormous," Lighthizer remarked. "We simply cannot do it without the input and support of committed preservationists."

Among the 10 sites identified in this year's report were Chancellorsville, Va.; Franklin, Tenn.; and Gettysburg, Pa. The report also mentioned 15 "at risk" battlefields that did not make the final ten.

"Thanks in part to the publicity generated by the report, we expect that several sites will be able to claim preservation victories before the end of the year," Lighthizer predicted.

To nominate a battlefield, individuals and groups are encouraged to fill out the nomination form available online at http://www.civilwar.org/newsroom/nominationform.pdf. Applications should include photographs of the site and a detailed description of recent threats. Nominations must be postmarked no later than Oct. 31, 2002.

CWPT is a 40,000-member 501(c)(3) nonprofit battlefield preservation organization. Its mission is to preserve the nation's endangered Civil War battlefields and to promote appreciation of these hallowed grounds.